Suspend My Disbelief
by LadyCharliEM
Summary: Darcy wakes up to find that normal is the new normal. The Avengers never existed and are all living well-adjusted lives. Why is she the only one that remembers them as the heroes they really are? How will she convince them this is wrong without looking like a crazy person? Who is behind this trick, the trickster himself? He seems just as under the spell as everyone else. Darcy/Loki
1. Chapter 1

Suspend My Disbelief.

Xxxxxx

* * *

So… Another fic… I promised myself I wouldn't publish this until I'd written more (so far I'm only on Chapter Six) but after my brilliant brilliant Beta SleepieSandy sent this back, it was just too much to keep to myself anymore!

I hope you like it, I've never written Darcy/Loki before so please please please tellme if I'm going completely off character with them, especially Loki who is so complex and fascinating that I will never be able to do him justice.

This fic is looking to be around ten chapters although it may be more depending on how much my fingers like typing lol.

Let's get on with the show then, shall we? Please don't hate me!

Xxxxxx

* * *

Chapter One

Darcy jolted awake with a gasp. She rolled over on her comfy mattress and was promptly hit in the head by a very solid wall.

"Fuck! Ow." She groaned, had she spun around in her sleep? Because last time she checked, her bedroom wall was defiantly on the right side of her bed and not the left.

"Ugh.."

Darcy froze. She wasn't alone in her bed, which she was now beginning to think wasn't her bed at all. She tried to recall the actions that led to her being in this awkward and completely unexpected situation but was coming up blank. According to her memories, she went to bed last night at a semi-reasonable hour after a long day of working in the Lab with Jane before the weekly movie night they had with the other Avengers. She didn't get _that_ drunk, did she? She certainly didn't get wasted enough to venture out of Stark Tower and hook up with a random man…

Did she?

She did not pass out in his bed and forget the whole night…

Did she?!

Darcy tried to convince herself this wasn't happening, although the evidence was stacked quite high against those facts. Last thing she remembered was heading back to her room in the elevator with Pepper, that weird conversation they had, then going straight to bed.

Fuck. What happened?

"Darcy, what's wrong?" She clutched at the bed sheet and covered her naked chest with the soft material. Whoever was in the dark bedroom with her reached out, and she jumped up and over him with more energy than she thought possible and fled the bed area.

The lights switched on and Darcy shielded her eyes from the brightness.

"Are you having nightmares again?" She blinked the tears away as her vision slowly adjusted to the light. She lowered her arm, not knowing what to expect. Again? She never had nightmares. Who was this stranger?

She let her eyes trail over everything in the room, feeling her S.H.I.E.L.D Basic Training kick in, well, the one day of 'just in case' and 'things you need to know' training she had when she first started working for S.H.I.E.L.D with Jane. Know your enemy. Find an exit. Get a weapon. Those were pretty much the big three, that and don't piss of Hulk. She scanned the floor, only rumpled clothes were scattered on the wooden beams. There was a desk, but it was immaculate, there was only the open desktop and mouse covering its surface. There was a book shelf, filled with hundreds of books, some looked heavy Darcy thought with a smile, but the door was on the other side of the room, where as she was currently standing right in the middle of it. Does she grab a book and fight or run for freedom and hope for the best?

Darcy's mind was racing and yet she couldn't do more than stand still in this strange room, a sheet clutched to her chest, eyes wide and frantically searching for some clue about what was happening.

"Where am I?" She finally managed to speak as her gaze landed on the strange man. He was not the usual guy Darcy went for, even when drunk, Darcy had a type and this dude wasn't it. He had dusty blonde hair that was currently sticking up in various directions, his warm brown eyes were panicked but soft and he had the build of an ex-swimmer, big, deep muscle and strength but years of not swimming daily had left him doughy around the edges of his torso, thick arm and thigh muscles. He seemed a little slow mentally as well, his jaw hung open and brow knitted together in confusion. "Who are you?"

"Darcy?" His tone was serious and his soft eyes suddenly hardened. "It's me, Jake." He reached a hand out and Darcy flinched away and backed up a bit more towards his desk. Maybe she could throw the mouse? She thought, glancing down at it before glaring back up at Jake. Luckily it was a Bluetooth one.

"Jake?" She muttered, confused. Her mind was a complete blank for men called Jake. She faltered for one second but regained her composure and pointed at him. "Where am I?!" It was more a demand than a question, and Darcy felt proud at how authoritative she sounded.

"Darcy, you're scaring me. This is my flat, you know that, you've stayed over like a hundred times! Stop freaking out."

"Stop freaking out!?" Darcy cried, reaching down to grab a pair of jeans that looked like hers and haphazardly tugged them on while holding the sheet up to cover herself. "I don't know you, _Jake_. Last thing I remember, I was in my own bed, getting a bit of sleep before I had to start making the coffee for everyone at work and the next thing I know I wake up here! In bed, with a random dude, who probably drugged me!" Darcy's eyes flew wide open. "Oh my god! You drugged me, didn't you? Where the fuck is my bra?" She asked mainly to herself as she threw a t-shirt across the room.

"Darcy, I didn't drug you, we've been dating for months. You don't make coffee; you have an intern whose job is purely to make coffee because you can't ever make it strong enough." Jake said with a slight chuckle despite himself.

"_I_ have an _intern_?"

"Yeah, you graduated two years ago. You've been working at Asgard Corp since you qualified. Your one request was that you got an intern that had coffee making experience." Jake seemed as flustered as she was; only he was sitting in the bed with no care in the world at exposing himself to her. Darcy shielded her eyes from his nether region and peeked at the strange man's face over the top of her fingers. What the hell was Asgard Corp?

"I got my political science degree?" She asked, timidly. Had she skipped years into the future where she'd finally gone back to university and gotten her final 6 credits because her internship was disbanded after the God of Thunder turned up bringing S.H.I.E.L.D and their iPod stealing elves with them?

"Political what? You know nothing about politics. Darcy, you're an astrophysicist, how can you not remember that?"

"What? Are you insane? I know fuck all about space! The only vague idea of stars and shit I have is the little bits I can barely understand that rubbed off from Jane, so you better stop lying and start explaining what's really going on here. Or I'm… I'm…" Darcy let out a frustrated growl and picked up the wireless mouse and threw it at Jake, using his distraction to slip on a jumper over her now bra clad chest. She nearly had chance to sprint to the door before Jake interrupted her.

"Jane Foster? Darcy, listen, Jane's your lab partner. You worked on your doctorates' together and were hired by Odin himself after all your research on Einstein-Rosen Bridges." Darcy took a deep breath in, Jane was here! Jane would know what to do, she was probably as confused and horrified by the idea of Darcy being her partner as she was.

"Jane. I need to see Jane." Darcy said as calmly as she could, trying to stay in control of this crazy situation.

Jake stood up, which caused Darcy to shield her eyes again. Wow, he really had no worried about _that_part of him, did he?

"Woah there, buddy boy." She warned, spinning on her heel to avoid seeing him in all his "glory".

"Sorry, I'll just grab some pants, and call her. Darcy, you're really worrying me, I think you might have hit your head. We need to take you to a doctor or something." Jake sounded completely sincere and worried. Darcy was tempted to give him some slack except this was way too big of a problem to start getting all sympathetic for random people about.

"No. I need Jane. You better take me to her now or I'll find her myself." It was a long shot, and she wasn't really sure if she wanted this Jake person helping her, after all, he might still be a rapist in some big elaborate prank.

Jake sighed, she heard him stop shuffling and assumed he was now dressed, and it was okay to turn around. He looked heartbroken, like he truly believed that his girlfriend had suddenly woken up and forgotten who he was. Darcy had seen enough shitty romantic films to know what that looked like. Damn her and her Channing Tatum addiction! He was a terrible actor but she couldn't help but love any film he was in.

"Look, I'm sorry Jake, but I'm freaking out, I really hope I just hit my head and it'll all come back to me after a strong cup of coffee, but right now, you're a stranger to me, I apparently have the word Doctor in front of my name, something that I never thought was possible, and I now work for Thor's dad, so I really need to speak to Jane and ask a few things, okay?" He nodded and she guessed he could tell she was only being half sincere. "I promise I'll call you or whatever when I can think a bit clearer, but can you take me to Jane… please?"

"Okay." Jake opened his bedroom door and led her out into a living room area that showed  
Darcy this was an apartment, a fairly decent sized place that let her know she probably wasn't in Manhattan. She gave him a weak smile as he handed her an unfamiliar handbag that she guessed was her own, she quickly shoved some boots on, and they left, looking as tired and confused as each other.

Xxxxxx

* * *

The ride to Asgard Corp was silent. She didn't have anything to ask Jake that didn't involve her sounding crazier and felt it was best, for once in her life, to keep her mouth firmly shut. She watched as the buildings and trees flew by, apparently Jake's apartment was in New Jersey and she worked in Manhattan; so she often crashed there at the weekends to escape the busy New York  
City lifestyle where her flat was.

During the whole journey, Darcy ran through every movie she ever watched where stuff like this happened and with the help of Buffy, The Bourne Identity, Farscape and Total Recall, Darcy was beginning to put some ideas together, ranging from an evil demon who had poisoned her, all the way to S.H.I.E.L.D trying to get rid of her by pulling some Men In Black shit. Oh! Men in Black 3, she recalled before adding it to her list. It didn't help her a great deal, but at least, it gave her a starting point. Oddly enough, she was routing for demon.

The trees disappeared and soon all she could see were busy streets and tall buildings. She recognized so many of them from her time spent at S.H.I.E.L.D HQ after the whole Thor thing, then at Stark Tower after the whole Loki thing, but a few stood out as odd, some were new ones she'd never seen before, while others she knew got destroyed in the Chitauri battle but were now standing flawless in front of her. Darcy decided it was now a good time to start asking questions again, not to mention Jake had spent every passing moment he could staring at her like she'd gone insane, and it was beginning to annoy her.

"What's that place?" She pointed at an outrageously over the top building that blocked out half the skyline.

"Er.." Jake craned his neck to look at where she was pointing, but it didn't take long to figure it out. "That's Asgard Corp headquarters, you work there. Worked there." He corrected himself.

"Oh." Darcy zipped her lips and tried to look at the top of the building from the passenger seat, an impossible task. "Is that where we're going?"

"No, you and Jane are currently working at the Scientific Hazards and Interplanetary Exploration Law-Enforcement Division down on 45th and 4th. Both companies had pooled their resources based on yours and Jane's work; you've been so excited about this, Darcy. 'A chance to put aside petty differences and work towards a better knowledge of the universe and what it can do for us, and us for it.' You always said this was a huge break through."

"That sounds more like Jane." Darcy sighed, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. "Hang on, Scientific Hazard- S.H.I.E.L.D?! I'm working for S.H.I.E.L.D? You've got to be fucking with me." She didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this messed up world she'd found herself in.

Jake raised an eyebrow at her strange reaction to this information but didn't say anything, after everything that had happened in the past hour, Darcy laughing manically at the name of the company she was working with was the least unsettling thing to happen.

"What do they do? The Scientific Hazard…" Darcy trailed off.

"And Interplanetary Exploration Law-Enforcement Division?" Jake finished.

Darcy popped her lips and shot a finer gun in his direction. "Yep, that one. What exactly does that mean?"

There was a long pause before he spoke, like he was finding the right way to explain it… or coming up with an elaborate lie… Darcy deliberated.

"They monitor experiments for illegal activity and control the access people have to certain areas of space. They are basically the people who tell scientists and NASA what they can and can't do."

"Oh." Darcy's mouth fell open. Yep, that sounded like S.H.I.E.L.D alright…"I swear, if this is all some elaborate prank by Tony then I will go fucking ape shit over all this." Darcy muttered and went back to staring out the window, tugging on the edges of her jumpers' sleeve.

There was a long silence as they drove down the busy streets, Darcy focused in on the horns honking and people yelling on the street, forgetting about the unknown man who was driving her.

"We were going out to dinner with my parents tonight..." Jake spoke suddenly, causing Darcy to jump and whip her head back to look at his sheepish expression. "I guess I should cancel..."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." Darcy replied awkwardly, feeling guilty at his disheartened acceptance. "Seeing as I don't really know... them..." She winced at the obvious implication and turned away from him again.

"We're here." The car stopped at the entrance to an underground car park. Darcy heard the small sound of his indicator switching on and flashing before a wave of panic hit her.

"Er, you don't have to come in. I'm fine on my own." Darcy started rambling as she pulled on the car door handle and undid her seatbelt at the same time. "I'll get a cab home or something. Thanks!" Grabbing her handbag, she fled the car and jogged down the street to the entrance of this supposedly "S.H.I.E.L.D" building before Jake had the chance to argue.

She gambled a glance back at the car and Jake before turning into the lobby and saw him on the phone, running a hand through his hair as he spoke to whoever was on the other end. He looked genuinely upset. Sighing again, Darcy pushed open the big glass door in front of her. She felt a pressure inside her skull and pressed the palm of her hand on her forehead, after all the confusion and stress of this morning it only made sense that she was getting a head ache.

"Great, just great."

Xxxxxx

* * *

"Morning, Dr. Lewis!" Someone instantly called out as she walked through the huge entrance to this "S.H.I.E.L.D" building, it took a moment to register that whoever that was, was talking to her.

She glanced around and saw a friendly looking woman sitting at the reception desk. She smiled and waved at her, and Darcy could only slowly wave back, no idea who this woman was, not that she expected to give the morning she was having.

"Hi?"

"Are you feeling alright Dr. Lewis?" The middle aged greeting woman asked.

"Yeah... I'm just..." Darcy was struck with a sudden idea and made her way closer to the desk. Leaning over the polished glass so she was eye level with, her eyes flicked down and read the woman's name tag, Amanda. "Is Dr. Foster in yet?" Amanda smiled warmly and nodded.

"Awesome." Darcy mentally scolded herself when Amanda looked at her oddly at her slang. "Er, where was she heading, do you know?"

"Probably the seventh floor."

"The seventh floor, okay. That's great. Thanks Mandy." Darcy tried to tell herself as she looked around the lobby for the elevators and tugged on the sleeve of her jumper more nervously than before.

"Are- are you sure you're okay Dr. Lewis? Have you forgotten the meeting this morning?"

"Meeting?" Panic rose from the pit of Darcy's stomach at the prospect of Jane not being alone so they could figure out whatever the hell was going on. "What meeting?" She finally managed to stutter out, cursing fate at the lack of luck she was having.

"Between yourselves, Misters Odinsons' and the Head of Interplanetary Research." She informed her slowly, like she was talking to a child, the older woman getting more and more concerned by Darcy's unusual behaviour as she spoke.

"Oh! That... Yeah, I kind of spaced on that. I'll head over there now. Thanks Mandy!" Darcy quickly hurried towards the elevators before she made the receptionist more suspicious with her blatant lack of knowledge of this world.

She jabbed the buttons a lot harder than necessary and tried to calm her racing heart by breathing in and out deeply. She was safely inside the small lift before she felt the panic and bile rise up in the back of her throat.

Meeting!? She knew fuck all about this stuff, and now she had to fake her way through a professional meeting about something she was supposed to be some kind of genius in? Darcy was praying that she could just sit back and shut up while Jane answered everything, although fate was being a cruel bitch today apparently.

She was suddenly getting flashbacks to when she had to make a speech in ninth grade and had completely forgotten about it until her name was called first. Her heart was racing, so hard that she could feel it in the back of the throat, her armpits were sweating, and she felt tightness in her chest that only emphasized how fast her heart was pounding. It was exactly the same. She ended up fumbling through the whole speech, using her usual snark and sarcastic nature to make the class laugh and not notice how she had no idea what she was talking about or who was the first man on the moon, it was either that Buzz dude or that Neil man. Even now she wasn't 100% sure and she was supposed to be a doctor in space! She was totally screwed. The dread was almost overwhelming and she knew her quick wit wouldn't help her out this time.

She watched at the numbers got higher, 4, 5, 6. She swallowed, dryly. This was all just some mistake. Some big joke that Tony organized, to make her think she was in some kind of alternative universe where up was down; she was in a serious relationship and actually had a career. It was pretty messed up of Tony to tease her like this, but it was one of the few explanations that she could believe. Any second the doors would open and she would be faced with Tony's smug face and possibly the flash of a camera to save that moment for all to see the rest of eternity. She was actually praying that was the case because aside from being in a sci fi movie, there was no other explanation for this. Sure, she lived in a world where Norse Gods were real and men turned into monsters when pissed, but this was unbelievable.

The doors slid open smoothly, and she heard a gasp before her eyes could focus on what was in front of her.

"Darcy! I was so worried! I had 3 missed calls from Jake but neither of you were answering your phones, are you okay? What- what are you wearing?" Darcy almost wanted to let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her closest friend but stopped when she mentioned Darcy's supposed boyfriend.

She has got to be kidding, Jane's in on this too? Darcy frowned and stepped out of the lift before the doors closed again.

"I'm fine Jane. Just confused at what kind of joke this is."

"Joke?" Jane's eyes were wide and Darcy almost felt bad for sounding too harsh at her. Almost.

"Yeah, this meeting, Jake, Asgard Corp? The Scientific Hazard of whatever? Why... I mean, what the fuck is Tony up to?" Darcy ran her hand through her hair, thankful it didn't get tangled in the messy curls.

Jane raised an eyebrow and spoke slowly. "Tony Stark?" Darcy nodded, like it was obvious that's who she was talking about. "Tony Stark wants to form a merger with S.H.I.E.L.D and Asgard Corp because of our research, you know that. It was you who suggested him because of he has access to the equipment we need!" Jane began to hiss, panicked. "Is this why Jake was calling me? Are you freaking out over how huge this is? Cause I get that, really, but you can't right now, they're all in that room waiting for us!"

Darcy was about to protest, she wanted to scream that this was all wrong but Jane's pathetically concerned expression made her pause. Was Jane right? Was this all some kind of melt down and Darcy had deluded herself into making up a completely make up world where she worked for superheroes? It actually made more sense. Darcy shook her head and scolded herself, of course not! Darcy knew who she was, she knew_ this_was wrong, not her.

"Jane, I think we need to talk, okay? Can we forget about the meeting and go find a nice quiet room so we can just talk?" She said as calmly as she could, but her pulse was racing again and the prospect of this not just being a big prank was beginning to set in. Jane wouldn't do something like this. Darcy took a moment to look at the older woman, her hair was shorter, in a chin length bob that she certainly didn't have yesterday. She was dressed in a very smart and form fitting skirt suit and was also wearing makeup, Jane never wore make up. Even when Darcy tried to take her out for a girly drink or to one of those special science parties people seemed to have every week that Jane was invited to, she refused to put on even eye shadow, not that she needed it. Darcy was always a little bit jealous of Jane's flawless skin and dark dark eyelashes, her perfectly peach lips and the constant blush that graced her cheeks. It always felt like Darcy had to spend an hour in front of the mirror to only look 'acceptable'. Not that Darcy ever said it out loud, but she noticed the older woman's good looks and often wondered how she was single until she remembered how dedicated her work with science was. She'd much rather be hauled up in the middle of a New Mexico desert than out meeting guy like normal women her age. Anyway, Jane was wearing makeup now, and that's just another thing that was wrong with this place.

"No! Darce, you _cannot _do this to me! You're already making me do the whole presentation; so there's no way you're not going to be sitting next to me when I fluff it all up!" It was like looking at Bambi after its mother had died, all wide eyed fear and desperation.

Darcy tried to stare her down, but when her bottom lip pouted out Darcy's determination wavered and she cracked. Damn it.

"You're doing the presentation?" Darcy said, mainly to herself, checking. Maybe this wasn't as bad as it could have been. "Fine. But I'm not saying anything or doing any sciencey stuff until we've talked, agreed?"

"Yes, let's just go! You've already made them wait ten minutes." Jane grabbed Darcy by the wrist and pulled her through the closest door to where they were standing.

Darcy suppressed a yelp as she was practically pushed through the door into a conference style room with a huge table taking up most of the space. Chairs arranged evenly apart around the table but the few other people in the room were spread out randomly. She fixed her jumper and started to look around the room, really not wanting to be there. This was seriously a waste of time when her and Jane could be figuring out what was going on.

"Holy fuck!"

Her hands immediately flew to her mouth. It was Nick Fury... But he had two eyes! Two motherfucking eyes that were staring at her with the most shocked expression of anyone she had ever seen in her life before. Man, if Darcy thought his one eyes glare was scary... It was a hell of a lot worse being on the other end of both.

"Sorry." Darcy quickly muttered as she sat in one of the empty chairs closest to the door and tried to make herself as small as possible while she subtly looked at the other people that were staring at her. So much for subtly…

Thor was next to Fury at the head of the table, his shiny blond hair tied back in a neat pony tail and a suit that looked way to expensive and out of place on the Asgardian's broad shoulders. Darcy was about to wonder how much weirder this whole morning could be until she saw him.

Loki.

His black hair was shorter than she had seen from the New York Battle footage and all those files S.H.I.E.L.D made her read, although it was sleeked back behind his ears in that familiar style. She almost swore again as she watched a smirk slowly form on his lips, he was staring directly at her and she gasped silently at how piecing and frightening his green eyes were. A glint in his eyes that could only be described as 'mischievous' flashed at her. She gasped again and nearly choked on the air.

Mother fucker! This was his doing! She just knew it. Like Buffy, this was all just a spell, a trick to confuse them all and defeat his enemies while they were blissfully unaware. Who else would play a trick like this except the ultimate trickster himself? Darcy tried to process this information as she shrunk down in her chair lower and watched as Jane apologised for Darcy's rude and unexpected behavior. Well, at least she knew this reality was wrong and wasn't about to sit there and let him take them out while they were at their weakest. Darcy couldn't wait for everything to be fixed so Natasha and Clint finally had proof that Loki wasn't as genuine as the other thought when he switched sides. When Thor and Loki came back from Asgard, Loki's punishment from Odin was apparently 'in place' according to Thor but he never told them what it was. Loki had seemingly had a change of heart and now wanted to help The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D protect Earth and its people. To say some of them were still pissed about Fury's decision to allow Loki to help was an understatement. Clint and Natasha were still so bitter that no one willingly talked about it around them unless it was strictly necessary. The rest at least tried to forgive and forget, especially when Thor threatened to beat then into the floor if they said a bad word against his little brother, but that didn't mean they liked it.

Darcy didn't really mind, she'd never really met Loki, sure she'd seen him on the other side of a crowded meeting room, but she was never involved in them and he always kept himself to himself. Although she knew the terrible stuff he had done, she also knew Thor wasn't some naive blond muscle man. He was over a thousand years old and had suffered enough to have wisdom beyond that. Thor didn't forgive and forget, he chooses to see the good and give second chances to those who deserve them, and Loki had proved to his brother that he was worthy, which was enough for Darcy accept and to shrug off bad comments about Loki but not necessarily defend him either. But this was taking it too far! Thor had defended his brother, fought for him to be part of Earth, in a good and helpful way and how did Loki repay him? By tricking them and putting them under some kind of spell where they all forgot who they really were. What an ass, Darcy scowled.

"That's quite alright, Dr Foster. Really. Let's begin?" Thor tried to reassure Jane and Darcy was finding it very strange to watch them act as if they didn't know each other. If Darcy hadn't have known better, she would have almost missed the blush on both their faces. Looks like some things don't change, she mused, feeling smug that she could at least understand_ one_thing that was going on.

"Okay. Please, call me Jane."

Loki snorted, which earned him a glare from his brother and Darcy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at them.

It was really obvious from her side of the table that Loki was behind all this. He was enjoying this meeting way more than a normal person should, and it was enough to confirm her suspicion when he rolled his eyes at Thor's attempt to understand the science Jane was explaining by comparing it to 'something he saw in Star Trek once'.

"For pity's sake." Loki muttered as he slowly massaged his temples where Darcy guessed a head ache was forming for him as well.

"Hey! Not everyone is a scientific genius, Mr Odinson. Thor's comparison is actually incredibly sensible." Darcy said confidently, unsure if what she was saying was true, but wanting to wipe that rude self-righteous look off his face.

"Darcy!" She ignored Jane as she continued to glare at the insane god.

"A scientific genius, like you?" He countered, which made Darcy tempted to stick her tongue out at him.

"Yes, like me." Smug was too weak a word to describe her smirk.

"Hmm." Loki covered his mouth with his long fingers, a poor attempt to hide his amusement as his eye crinkling in the corners gave away his silent laughter. Ass.

"Sorry, Jane. What were you saying?" Thor asked, awkwardly.

She flustered over a few sheets of paper and Darcy felt guilty for her brash actions. She always seemed to make things harder for other people. No! This wasn't the time to feel guilty, Loki was fucking things up and they had no idea! She needed to find a way to out him as a liar and manipulator but they didn't seem to remember their real lives… so Darcy would just look mental. Her shoulders gave slightly and she shrunk back into the chair. She needed to go about this the right way and yelling "Loki is doing a magic spell" was certainly not going to go down well.

"You were just saying how Stark Industries is willing to let us use their Genesis Laser for our research if they get priority over any discoveries we make with creating interstellar bridges." Darcy reminded Jane, surprising herself at how easily she was picking up all of their work. She was nowhere near a genius scientist like she mocked Loki but this was kind of fun.

"Yes, exactly." Darcy pointed at the older woman with one hand while tapping her nose with the other, Jane paused and gave a double take at the gesture before continuing. "Er… Stark's offer is incredibly generous considering that our research is a little out of Stark Industries' usual field." Jane said with a bright smile, regaining some of her composure. Darcy glanced from Jane to Thor and smiled to herself at how entranced he looked at the older woman. She wanted to do a mental fist pump at their obvious and incredibly adorable crushes on each other, they were like love struck teenagers and if there was one thing Darcy loved, it was cheesy teenage romance TV shows. They were just like Derek and Stiles! Only not… "According to his statement, he wants to get out of the weapons industry and start branching out into more humanitarian projects. He seems genuine, and was extremely enthusiastic about this project; something about being kidnapped and trapped in that cave for months meant he started looking at the stars when he finally escaped." Darcy rolled her eyes mentally at how cheesy that was, but couldn't blame Tony for his sentiment.

"He just wants to distract attention from Stane. This must seem like a great media stunt for him. "Hey, forget about my former CEO who illegally dealt weapons to America's enemies and focus on me forming friendships with other big and respectful companies." He's hoping our good reputation will rub off on his, that's all." Loki accused.

"Since his kidnapping, Stark has certainly had a change of heart." Thor disagreed. "I believe he is sincere, and I for one, don't want to let this opportunity pass us by."

"Stark is an arrogant dick, but he's also not stupid. He knows what the research can lead to, interplanetary communication, _discovering other lif__e out there_, sharing resources, sharing technology, we have the only two people that are smart enough to successfully achieve this and we want to put them in Stark's lap?" Loki pointed a rather expensive and shiny pen at his brother; Darcy frowned at his disapproval of Darcy's apparent life's work goal. Super Ass. "This is the biggest thing to happen since... ever, and we want to share that with Tony Bloody Stark?"

"But there wouldn't be any of these developments without Stark's equipment! 100% of nothing is nothing, you ass." Darcy said before covering her mouth again. She looked wide eyed at the Director, who wasn't actually the Director, in fear. He looked amused, his pearly white teeth all on show as he gave a hearty laugh. Darcy's forehead crinkled up at the man unexpected reaction to her insult. This was seriously weird.

"You are correct, Dr. Lewis. But are you willing to sell your credibility and soul to that heartless man who will turn your research into a – an amusement arcade!" Darcy raised an eyebrow at Loki's distain for the older man; he seemed more interested in keeping Darcy and Jane's integrity than taking a risk that could change the world. Change their theories and research into fact and actions. Did he really hate Tony Stark that much to say no to this amazing opportunity? It almost seemed genuine but Darcy knew better, this was Loki. He knew what was beyond Einstein-Rosen Bridges. Asgard, Jotenhuim and a few other crazy sounding planets that Darcy couldn't pronounce the names of, and he wanted to steer anyone in this reality away from them for whatever reason. Well, Darcy wasn't going to let him get away with that either.

"Hey, I love Disney. If Tony Stark can bring us a fifth of their market, then we'll be set for life. I'll see little kids walking around the street with "Science Buddies" or "Einstein-Rosen Bridges Rock!" on their t-shirts and backpacks; I'm all up for that!" Darcy couldn't ignore Jane's muffled cry of horror but continued. "You may think it's selling out, Loki, but that would be just plain adorable." She challenged him with a raised eyebrow that he mirrored. Their eyes met in a silent dare. What would he do if she defied him? How would he react? She wondered with a strange pleasure as he swallowed and she saw his hands clench in her peripheral vision.

"Darcy!" Jane scolded her again.

"Is this how you sell your idea to us, Dr. Lewis? I understand you don't get out of the lab much, but you can at least present yourself with a little more _professionalism_." Loki sneered, his green eyes glaring heatedly across the table at her. Darcy felt her eyes narrow as she looked over the god in disguise, his black suit was perfectly styled to fit his tall but wiry frame. His white shirt was crisp and looked like expensive material that Darcy couldn't dream of the cost, and the dark green tie that hung around his neck only helped him looked commanding and in complete control. She hated him and that smug smirk as that evil twinkle reappeared in his eye. "Your lax attitude, the way you dress. I must say, you come across a lot more proficient and intellectual in your emails than in person. I'm disappointed, I was expecting more."

"Loki!" Thor was shocked at his brothers' rude comments, enough to let his well-presented image slip and reprimanded him, treating his business partner more like a little brother that had done something naughty.

"I'm _so__oo_ sorry for Dr. Lewis' actions, please understand that this means so much to us, I think the stress is just getting to her." Jane tried to hurriedly apologize, but Darcy waved her hand in front of the older woman to stop her.

"No no, Jane. This dude just doesn't _get_ it. None of these awesome things will be possible without Tony Stark. So you better swallow your pride, or pull that stick out of your ass or whatever it takes to admit that you need his help. Or buy your own damn laser, oh wait, you can't because Tony Stark only designed the one." Darcy was tempted to add a fist pump at the end of that and yell 'Boo-Ya!' but she thought it might be too much, she was supposed to be a "professional" after all. She rolled her eyes at Loki's lame insult for her. What did she care?

"She has a point, brother." Thor said from the top of the table, obviously not as affected by the whole meeting as Jane was. Darcy guessed Loki acted like this more often than she did in this false-reality.

Loki pursed his lips, his neck muscles flexing in silent anger but kept quiet, and Darcy gave a sigh of relief, she'd managed to beat him!

"Boo-Ya!" Darcy said, forgetting her earlier thought. "I think we should just finish." Darcy gave Jane an over the top stage whisper that caused the astrophysicist to roll her eyes and mutter 'Oh God, help me', obviously Darcy in this reality did that a lot too. At least they finally had one thing in common.

"Yes, um... To sum up, we have untold possibilities at our fingertips, just out of reach, your funding and previous support has been so helpful in achieving these results but Stark Industries' equipment will give us the opportunity to explore the possibilities, which where we stand at the moment, are endless. We just need you to okay this, as you know, our contract binds us to Asgard Corp and we are more than happy here, but if you say no, you're effectively putting our department in front of brick wall. Without that laser our research is just that. Research. With that laser, it would help us make discoveries that are, quite literally, out of this world. Thank you."

Jane shut down the presentation app off of her tablet, it blinking off the screen behind her a second later, as she rambled on then grabbed Darcy by the wrist, pulling her out of her swivel chair and dragging her out of the room, Jane's head hung low with shame and Darcy simply glared at Loki, mouthing the words 'I'm onto you' and making the universal motion of 'I'm watching you' with her free hand as they left.

"Thank you so much." Jane repeated as the door shut behind them leaving two very confused brothers and one amused Head of Science.

Xxxxxx

* * *

There we go! Chapter One of a new adventure. Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed reading it! Please take a moment to review, they are such a joy to read and I value any and all feedback I get for this fic, I'm really worried about my characterisation so any that is OOC then please let me know and I'll fix it… Loki is just so hard to get right…

Please review!

Next chapter will be up in around a week. That's my planned turn around but reviews certainly make me work faster… hint…

Charlie


	2. Chapter 2

Suspend My Disbelief

Xxxxxx

* * *

Okay, first off, I need to say something I forgot in the first chapter. I found this prompt idea from Avengerskink a few months ago by an anonymous person and it's been lurking in my brain since then. I finally caved to all these ideas I was having and began to write this story. I tried my hardest to find the prompt again but couldn't! I hunted everywhere but there are like 400 pages and I only had enough patience before reading prompts about Tony and Hulk got too much for me to handle.

Anyway. If anyone knows where or who I can contact/credit then please please please let me know. But as it was anonymous and I've only taken that basic premise of their prompt, I'm hoping whoever's idea it was won't hate me for writing it, after all, it was a prompt for someone to write it!

So… Dirty secret out in the open… please don't hate me…

Huge, gigantic, truly massive thank you to my friend and amazing Beta,** SleepySandy**, who is just brilliant. If you guys like Loki/Darcy then check out her fic (in my favourites) Hide and Seek. It's just pure awesome Darcy with mischievous, sneaky Loki thrown in for a fantastic ride!

On with Chapter 2!

Xxxxxx

* * *

Chapter 2

"Well, I think that went well." Darcy said as they headed towards the elevator.

She was met with a glare. "I can't believe you, Darcy. I know you don't always agree with Asgard Corp's policy, but that was a sure fire way to get them to say no and probably pull our funding! God, Darcy, I don't know what's gotten into you." Jane exclaimed, her stress at the whole meeting evident on her face.

"Come on, Jane, he was being a dick." Darcy said as if it was abundantly clear.

"I don't care! Do you want them to say no? Do you want all that time and effort to be a complete waste?"

Darcy felt the guilt instantly. This wasn't just a strange dream-like morning to Jane, to her, this was reality and what Darcy had just done had probably cost them years of research and the chance of making a pretty huge discovery. It was completely understandable if Jane was pissed, but instead, the older woman just seemed concerned. It made Darcy regret her behavior and Loki was going to pay for this.

Jane sighed and rubbed her temples in defeat when Darcy couldn't think of anything to say. "I'm worried, what was it you wanted to talk about? Do you need some time away, I know the stress has been getting to me, I can only imagine how _you're _coping." She started but Darcy cut her off.

"It's fine, Jane. You're right, I'm just stressed out. And when Loki started questioning everything, I bit his head off. I'm sorry. I just know how important this is for you, for us!" Darcy lied, trying to comfort her friend. "I just need a break. Can you cope without me for a few days?"

Jane's soft eyes widened at Darcy's confession, obviously not used to her admitting to the strain so easily. "Sure…" Jane trailed off. "Oh! I have a card of this brilliant psychotherapist, you know the one who developed that Inner-Hulk theory I was telling you about?" Jane said with a sudden burst of energy, fishing through her briefcase to find a business card.

"Bruce Banner?" Darcy asked, surprised, before she could stop herself. Hearing the word Hulk immediately brought him to mind.

"Yeah, him. Here we are!" Jane pulled a small metal case out and flicked through the various coloured and textured cards until she found the right one. "Call him, he's great, I went to him once after all the stuff with Donald and felt amazing after." Darcy smiled and tucked the slip of paper into her pocket, making a mental note that Bruce was in this reality as well, only he apparently worked as a shrink, she wanted to roll her eyes at the irony.

Darcy caught a glimpse of Thor and Loki leaving the meeting room as they reached the end of the corridor. They were shaking hands with Nick Fury and smiling; all three were smiling, which caused a shiver to run down Darcy's spine at the image of Thor, Fury and Loki all getting along. That would never happen in her world. Sure, Loki had accepted his punishment for going mental and trying to take over the world, but after he served whatever sentence Odin gave him on Asgard, Loki returned to Earth with Thor, who swore his little brother had changed and wanted to help the Avengers from now on. Fury, like most of them, was wary of his sudden change of heart but allowed him to assist on missions in a purely non-violent sense. Darcy had seen him in the distance in meetings, usually sitting in the back until he was called upon to give input, which was often the most useful in defeating whatever villain was trying to take over New York that week. He seemed willing though begrudged to lend a hand to S.H.I.E.L.D, but he was still there six months after his attack and that sent him slightly lower down on Darcy's 'Scale of Evil'. He was now somewhere below Magneto in badness but above Dr Doom, who was just lame in Darcy's opinion.

"Yeah, Jane… I got to go. Can I call you later?" Darcy looked over the older woman's shoulder as Loki split off from the other two men and headed through another door.

"Okay, but let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure thing." Darcy jogged past, following Loki and pushed open a door with a forceful hand.

"Excuse me?" Came the stunned voice on the other side.

It took a moment for Darcy to notice they were in a bathroom, or rather, a male bathroom. And Loki was peeing in front of her, well, with his back towards her but head turned around to see who the sudden and unwelcomed intruder was.

"Wow, sorry dude. I didn't… Actually I'm not sorry." Darcy reconsidered as Loki zipped up his flies and walked over to the sink basin to wash his hands. Man, this place was fancy looking; Darcy got distracted by the dark wood and fluffy towels before focusing on the task at hand.

"Oh, may I ask why you refuse to apologize for this invasion of privacy?" He asked calmly, an eyebrow quirked up at her.

"You," She pointed her finger at him and stepped forward to poke him in the chest. He was a lot taller now that they were both standing up and she was directly in front of him. Woah. She'd never been this close to him before, did he smell this good in her reality? "I know what you're up to, and you need to stop whatever scheme or plan you're playing right now, because I know all about you and I won't rest until everything is how it should be, you understand buddy?" Darcy could feel her heart racing again, worse than in the elevator. Had she just yelled at a murderous god? Fuck. She'd pretty much just signed her death certificate there and then by admitting she was unaffected by whatever trick he was pulling.

"Buddy?" Loki seemed more amused at her speech than she wanted so she just pressed her index finger harder into his sternum.

"Yes, buddy boy." Darcy repeated, jutting her chin up defensively.

"Are you threatening me?" Loki asked, a disbelieving smile forming on his lips as he looked down at her.

"I know it's pretty stupid of me, I must seem like a tiny bug to you or whatever, but yes. I _am_ threatening you." Her confidence was slipping, and quickly. He was probably about to turn back into Evil Loki and stab her with that stick of his that he killed Agent Coulson with. "Is… is that okay?" She mentally winced at how pathetic she sounded; she was never going to live this down. But on the up side, maybe Loki was going to kill her soon so it wouldn't be a _long_ life of embarrassment, she mused.

Loki let out a laugh that was completely un-like what she imagined him to be like. "Ehehehe, yes, I suppose you can try to intimidate me." He leaned closer to her, their noses millimeters from each other. Her breath caught in her throat as his clear green eyes stared down into her blue ones with an intensity she couldn't explain. "Just don't expect it to work." Loki finished, then grabbed her hand before she could react and lifted it to his lips. Pressing a gentle closed mouth kiss on her knuckles, his eyes never left hers. She was breathless now at how nerve-wracking this was but couldn't stop the heat from rising on her face. She knew what that meant to an Asgardian, and it was just enough to freak her out. She'd seen Thor do it to Jane, Fandral to her when they first met and kind of fancied each other. She was tempted to rip her hand out of his grasp but he spoke first. "Good day, Dr Lewis." He finally released her fingers and headed to the door that led out.

"I could sue you for sexual harassment in this world, you know!" She shouted to his retreating back after she'd recovered from his intense hand kiss thing.

"In the men's bathroom? I would love to see you try." He retorted over his shoulder with a shit-eating grin, before the door blocked her view.

Ass. She thought, taking a moment to replay their conversation back in her mind. She didn't actually get any answers from him. How was she supposed to stop whatever trick he was playing if she had no idea how or why he was doing it. Damn. Fuck. Shit!

She had no idea what to do next. She could go home, wherever that was, maybe start Google-ing other changes Loki had made in this universe? It certainly wouldn't hurt to re-watch all those TV shows where this sort of thing happened. Darcy wondered if her Netflix subscription still worked in this reality…

Xxxxxx

* * *

"What was that about?" Thor asked as soon at the town car door shut behind him.

"I have no clue what you're referring to, _brother_." Loki said, uninterestedly as he looked out of the window at the tall buildings that surrounded them.

"You are usually so good at shielding your emotions, what happened in that meeting was unseen of! What has you riled up this way?"

Loki exhaled a little too forcefully than he meant to. His business partner was right; he had been overly rude and short-tempered this morning. He knew exactly why, but refused to tell Thor about it, so instead turned the tables and threw the older man's feelings back in his face. "Maybe I was annoyed with your puppy love eyes at Dr Foster, your doleful stares become tedious after a while."

Thor shifted in his seat, taking a moment to readjust his suit jacket before denying any knowledge of what Loki was talking about.

"Don't be shy; it's not a good look on you." Loki said with a smirk, looking away from the window, suddenly finding the image of his brother, usually so composed and by far the more confident one of the two, flustered and uncomfortable talking about a lady far more interesting than the busy streets full of tourists and other activities.

"I don't know what you're talking about, everything is a good look on me." Thor managed to laugh, but he was avoiding Loki's eye line which told him everything he needed to know.

"Indeed, don't think I didn't notice you're wearing the Jaeger suit. What was it you said about the Jaeger suit?" Loki tapped his index finger against his chin a few times in mock contemplation, recalling the night his brother admitted to buying a very special suit from Jaeger that he would only wear the day he plucked up enough courage to ask Jane Foster to dinner with him. Loki wondered if his teasing was too mean, after all, Thor had the suit on but no date with the astrophysicist so something must have changed.

"Shut up, little brother, or I will end you." Loki threw his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, I did not mean to offend, merely reminiscing on more intoxicated times. You really were more fun when you drank more, you know that, right?" Loki smiled as his brother laughed, the mood in the car becoming lighter than before.

"We both have a company to run now, can't waste time having late night partying anymore." Thor said with a sad smile, obviously reliving some of the memories of their various fun nights out on the city before.

"True, you dropped a pronoun. Can't have that later when we announce this new merger." Loki teased, his smirk only getting bigger when Thor realized what he had just implied. His blond eyebrows rose up to his hairline as he stared at Loki.

"You think it's a good idea?"

"No, I think it's a risk, we'll be handing over two of our best assets to Stark's media circus, but they are right. 51% of something like this is better than 100% of nothing." Loki said, wistfully.

"I agree."

"Even if I must swallow my pride and let a playboy like Stark take control." Loki admitted bitterly with a sigh.

Thor gave the younger man a firm pat on the back and smiled widely. "Pride is not everything. Jane will be so thrilled to hear the news." He said with more enthusiasm than Loki could ignore.

"_Jane_ certainly will be." Loki laughed with a pointed look as he emphasized Thor's use of her name. Loki hated to admit it, but Jane and Thor were perfectly matched with each other, intellectually they were on different completely scales, but high up in their respected arenas, Thor owning one half of a Forbes 500 company and Jane being highly esteemed despite her initially obscure field. They were both driven, but not power mad. They had well controlled tempers, well, Loki mused, Jane must have to have Dr. Darcy Lewis as her work partner, that woman screamed 'handful'.

Loki sighed to himself. He prided himself on being a great people reader, yet with Dr Lewis, he was pulling up a total blank. In their brief but formal email conversations, she was intelligent yet not too serious, she was to the point but not domineering, her emails were always well structured and obviously well planned before sent, but in person… In person she was the complete opposite. She presented herself poorly, having made little to no effort in her dress sense, it was almost unheard of at this level of business. Loki was about to give her the benefit of the doubt, having met one or two other genius' in their work that had inadvertently let their personal and professional image slip but never in meetings this important for their research.

Then the first words he ever heard her speak were 'Holy Fuck'. It was certainly not the first impression he was expecting or hoping for. True, The Odinson Brothers were intimidating, how had GQ described them? "Handsome, ambitious, influential and charismatic sons that proved they were more than ready to fill their fathers shoes after a difficult year, bringing the company above and beyond the legacy left behind." Yes, Loki knew the two of them together could cause a wide range of reactions, but Dr. Lewis seemed more interested in the boss of S.H.I.E.L.D than them, to which Loki was shocked and slightly offended, not that he'd admit it. Nick Fury, a man whose department she had been working with for the past two months. For a moment, Loki worried that she wasn't expecting Nick to be there or there was some kind of bad blood between them, but that was not the case as Nick seemed as shocked by her reaction as the rest of them.

The most perplexing thing to Loki was that he had seen Dr. Lewis around at work before, he'd have to be blind not to. She practically lit up any room she was in, demanding the attention of everyone else with her infectious laugher and wide smiles. She was always dressed appropriately, playing down her curvy figure with flowing blouses and straight cut trousers, opposed to the low cut dresses and form fitting shirts and skirts that other women in Asgard Corp. were so insistent on wearing. He found it refreshing, and that's what made him always try and spot her every day, he told himself. But now having finally met her in an official capacity, she was not at all what he had thought she would be, and yet exactly what he wished she was at the same time. It was exciting, but utterly confusing, he never spent this much time thinking about an employee, it was unnerving, he was almost as bad as his brother, who was love sick with Dr. Foster to the point of nausea.

No, he wasn't half as bad at Thor's longing and desperate gazes. It was more a professional curiosity, Loki told himself. Dr. Lewis was always mentioned in conversations with other members of staff, no one ever once said a bad thing directed at the genius astrophysicist and that surprised Loki. With his year of experience in business and science, he often found the two don't mix well. Scientist wanted to follow every led, not caring about the financial side of it or if their discoveries were profitable or not, whereas business partners needed that potential profit, those fixed numbers and didn't understand the fluctuating nature of the sciences. It caused a lot of tension, and Loki had sat in more meetings than he cared to remember where it descended into madness of scientists verses business men. Loki sighed, and yet Darcy Lewis managed to please and subdue all of them with her friendly and charming personality. He'd have been a fool not to notice and appreciate her talent. But now... her sudden change in dress sense, her blatant lack of respect and her obvious absence of a brain to mouth filter, for havens sake, she had stormed into the men's room and threatened him! It was like what he'd seen from a distance was a complete lie compared to meeting her up close, yet it was still there, lingering behind her eyes. It was unexpected and Loki just found himself more intrigued. He'd be lying to himself if he said her finger poking him in the ribs as her body was semi-pressed against his hadn't been a turn on. Even the ghost feeling of her hips brushing his thighs was enough to make his pants a bit uncomfortable. But, unlike Thor, he was able to hide his feelings for the young astrophysicist.

The car bumped over a pothole and Loki was snapped out of him internal musings. He flashed a glare at his older brother and took out some of his inner battle on him. "Odin hired Dr Foster two years ago; you've been in love with her since her first day. Ask her out already! What better time is now, brother? She'd helping join the three biggest companies in scientific research and development together. Ours, Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D."

As much as Loki hated to admit it, if, or rather when, they said yes, this would be the biggest merger in science AND business ever. And it was all thanks to Doctors' Foster and Lewis research, and the fact that Stark was the only person with the machine they needed. Loki also supposed it was a little bit of luck that Tony Stark had turned over a new leaf since his kidnapping and the horrific news that former long term CEO of Stark Industries and father figure to Tony, Obadiah Stane, was behind that kidnapping and secretly selling weapons of mass destruction to known terrorists. Loki hated to admit it, but Stark seemed genuine and given the crazy last few months he had lived through, Loki was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and agree to this. He had a fleeting thought that he almost immediately squashed, where he wished he could be the one to tell Dr. Lewis the good news just so for once, that wide and appealing smile would be directed at him. He allowed himself five seconds to reveal in that image before stopping.

"Today was the first time we've met formally, despite my feelings, that does not paint a good picture for the relatively new joint-CEO of Asgard Corp., to date one of his employees, whom he recently gave allowance to work for Stark Industries." Thor said, his words paining him as he spoke. "Others would see the merger with her research as unfair and favoritism, whereas Jane would feel like this was some unspoken obligation she needed to fulfil, which it's not. Like saying 'no' means I would turn down the proposal."

"You would tell her how you've felt for years; she would know it wasn't expected of her to form a relationship with you unless she also wanted to. She's an intelligent grown woman. Why do you care about image if you both knew the truth? Isn't that what's important?" Loki tried to encourage him.

Thor's pained expression decreased slightly as he looked over at Loki. "You sound just like mother." He said warmly.

Loki snorted and rolled his eyes. Trust his brother to read more emotion than was there. "Besides, you've been joint-CEO for over a year, you have power over anyone who thinks badly of your relationship. Just get rid of them until people learn to stop talking."

"Now you sound like father." They both laughed and Thor gave him an affectionate pat on the knee. "But that is where we differ, brother, I know power isn't everything." His tone turning serious after their joking.

"Power is necessary." Loki barked quickly, a perfect mimic of his father. Loki instantly winced at his harsh words. After an awkward silence he began to speak again. "He taught us differently on purpose." Loki said with a small smile. "I mean, he taught us the same lessons, he always knew we would take over Asgard one day, but he taught them from different views."

"Because he knew we would balance each other."

"Because he knew I was different." Loki's lips curled down into a sneer.

"That isn't true. You are my brother, that will never change. We see things differently but that is why we are thriving in our roles." Thor tried to convince him, a nervous hand trying to smooth his perfectly styled hair was the only give away that he was still uncomfortable with this topic of conversation. Loki sighed and went back to staring out of the window as the faceless people went by.

"Thank you. I think I'll walk the rest of the way back." Loki said, pressing the buzzer that alerted the driver of his needs. "Hogan, can you stop here please?" He said to the Japanese-American man he knew was driving although he couldn't see him behind the divider. As the car slowed, Loki pushed open the door and stretched his long legs out before wishing Thor goodbye. "I'll see you at the office, where we'll contact Stark and start drawing up the new contracts with legal." He stood and closed the door carefully behind him, turning his back to the town car as it drove away.

The effects of being out of the presence of his brother were almost instant. Loki felt the knots in his shoulders ease and his breathing came a little more relaxed. Glancing down at his watch, he saw it was nearly noon. He knew this morning would be difficult. Thor was hopeless with matters of the heart, predictably compliant whenever feelings came into it. Loki knew he would have to rein him in at the meeting so Thor didn't promise the world to Jane with good intentions but without the company in mind. He hated standing up to his brother, they had grown up close, closer than any other siblings he had met, but there was always something there. The longing looks from their father as they played or joked around, even more so when they both went to business school and started having heated discussions about various laws or policies. Loki never noticed them until it was too late. He guessed he should have seen it sooner, the way Odin favored Thor while Frigga had a softer spot for him. When his father last year had announced he was stepping down from CEO and passing the role to his sons, Loki couldn't have been happier, this was what he had been trained for his whole life and finally he and his brother could prove they weren't just a couple of lazy rich kids and were more than capable and deserved their place at that company.

Two days after the announcement, a major tabloid was waiting outside Asgard Corp. Headquarters asking how Loki felt when he found out he was adopted, how he felt to people saying the company wasn't rightfully his. Loki brushed the woman off, ignoring her words and thinking nothing more of it. Just a shit-stirring reporter looking for problems where there were none.

It wasn't until the paper ran the story the next day and himself, Thor and all their employees were bombarded as they went to work that Loki was faced with the truth from a phone with his father.

He was adopted.

His perfect life had been a lie.

Loki's world spun out of control that day and he was still coping with the repercussions. He had hated his father and mother for lying, but the years of them being a loving and practically perfect family had made it hard to despise them. He blamed them for not telling him, for letting this huge secret fester for over thirty years and explode in their faces, but they dealt with it as a family and the issue was now looked at as mere trivia in the public eye. He began to begrudge Thor, the perfect older brother, who was justly heir to the company, but he had exactly the same opportunities and Thor did not think or treat him any less despite them not sharing blood. Loki couldn't be angry with anyone, he couldn't blame anyone, even the reporter who discovered the poorly hidden adoption papers was just doing her job. Loki wanted to be mad, he wanted to be unreasonable and reckless, but everything was handled so quickly and efficiently that he never had the chance to scream or shout. So he became bitter, and self-destructive. Swearing off a social life and focusing only on work to prove he had just as much right to be there as Thor, if not more.

It was nearly a year ago since that day, and he was still trying to figure out how he felt about it. One moment he would be angry at everyone involved, the next he would be grateful that such a kind and loving family took him in as a baby, only to 180 it again and be jealous of his brother who people were always comparing him to, thinking things like "Thor is the rightful CEO" or "Loki is so obviously adopted, just look at them!". It didn't help that Loki started to research about the true identity of his birth parents and was disgusted to find out whom, or rather, what, they were. Just a couple of druggy homeless teens. Having to go from believing his parents were smart, strong, confident and successful power couple to finding out they were really idiot youths who made bad choices was a long way to fall. The higher the pedestal... He thought cynically.

Turns out his parents, well, his adoptive parents gave the teens money and put them into a good rehabilitation program for their discretion. It made him sick how they tried to cover their own tracks, proving they never intended to tell him.

Loki shoved his hands in his pants pockets and walked along the busy streets, looking up at the tall buildings and beautifully merged architecture, new and old. He loved New York City. It was his home. Whenever he felt lost or frustrated he always just walked around, looking at the buildings and the busy people as they went on with their own lives. He loved to people watch, finding their behavior and lives fascinating to watch from an outside perspective.

He was close to HQ when he noticed he was walking behind a young couple, laughing and pointing out various things at what was obviously their first time in the city. He smiled at their interactions and for the first time in a year, he wished he had that. Even worse, he wished he had that with Dr. Lewis. He could almost hear her laughter and see her gorgeous smile as he made her aware of a small cafe that he tripped and spilt ice tea over a waitress. He hated himself for letting his mind wonder in that direction again, especially after her outrageous display of unprofessionalism earlier, but it was more of a shock to him that he was feeling like this again, more than the intended person.

Loki smiled to himself, the hate gone but feeling rather proud with himself as he watched the couple pause and have a brief kiss outside of a tacky tourist gift shop. He would have to tell his therapist about this development.

Xxxxxx

* * *

Darcy had somehow managed to find her apartment and get in without too much trouble, thanks to her handy Stark Phone that had her contact details stored in, including her address. She cringed at the piece of technology, wishing she had her trusty iPhone with its cheesy Avengers themed case in this reality but was grateful for her other self's naive idea of putting that kind of information in an easy to find place.

She opened the door, not expecting what she found. First off, it was tidy. Darcy shivered at how foreign the place instantly felt. She seriously hoped she hadn't just broken into a neighbor's apartment that she had the spare key for because that would be awkward. Second of all, it was so boring. Bookshelf after bookshelf lined the walls and there were two small brown sofas in the living room area that showed her how few people she had round for company. The TV was tiny, barely even there in Darcy's opinion and there wasn't a thing out of place, no discarded book on the coffee table, no empty mug waiting to be washed. It felt unnatural. It wasn't until she saw a very prominent CD collection on a bookshelf that she finally felt happy that she actually lived here, a connection forming between this version of her and well, herself.

Darcy ran her fingers over the surface of the various CD's that were all lined up and smiled when she noticed they were in alphabetical order, something she was always meant to get around to doing for years but moving around the country, even to Norway at one point, then to New York had made it difficult, even now when she was settled into Stark Tower, her most recent home, she never found the time or effort to try and get it done, she always started and found an album she hadn't heard in a while then got distracted. It was nice to know that her alterative self had time to do it, even with a crazy busy and important job and a boyfriend.

Darcy winced at the memory of Jake that morning. He had looked so heartbroken when she pushed him away, she felt bad, but looking around this apartment there were no pictures of them together, no items that could be him randomly left here. Darcy began to wonder just how serious their relationship actually was.

After ten minutes of searching her kitchen and only coming up with a tin of chilli and some dried pasta, she decided to order some take-out and went on a mission to find a laptop in her apartment. It didn't take long to find one charging in the bedroom and she turned it on, pleased to find there was no password although Darcy was now getting seriously concerned about her own self's lack of security protection. She Google'd close by restaurants that delivery at 1 in the afternoon and only found Domino's Pizza, ordering a large pepperoni with the forethought that the leftovers could double as dinner, she then went on to Wikipedia and began to research the various changes that had seemed to be the norm here. She squinted at the bright screen and was pleased to know that her eyesight hadn't changed when she fished out a pair of glasses from her handbag.

First off, there are no Avengers. Ironman doesn't exist, Tony Stark got kidnapped, which she had already figured out thanks to Loki's little rant earlier, but Stark hadn't developed any kind of super weapon suit to save himself, instead he was rescued by the military after some leaked information was discovered in Obadiah Stane's possession. Captain America was also a complete work of fiction, a comic book character from World War Two that was never heard of after the war ended. Thor and Loki were obviously business men and when she Google'd 'Norse Gods Loki and Thor Odinson' it asked her if she meant 'Hot Sex Gods Loki and Thor Odinson' which caused Darcy to let out a yelp and slam the laptop lid down.

Luckily, that was the moment her pizza arrived. She began to distract herself with YouTube videos of Dr. Bruce Banner's Inner-Hulk theory and by the end of the third slice of pizza and fourth video of Bruce doing interviews on various chat shows about his book and the basics of the 'Hulk' everyone had inside of them and how it was healthy to let yourself get swallowed in rage once in a while, Darcy felt full from pizza and sick at how different Bruce's attitude was here.

She shoved the half empty pizza box into her fridge, which was bare but still on, then grabbed her cell phone and the business card Jane gave her earlier. Darcy thought it was best to see this new found, uber chilled out Bruce that occasionally has outbursts of rage to keep so relaxed the rest of the time for herself.

"Good afternoon, this is Dr Banner's Office, Jennifer speaking, how can I help?" A cheery voice greeted her. Darcy rolled her eyes at how fake she sounded.

"Hey... um... I'm Darcy Lewis, I was wondering if I could have an appointment with Dr. Banner sometime soon. It... It's rather urgent." She stumbled over her words, deciding it would have been better to pre-plan what she was going to say.

"Dr. Darcy Lewis?" The woman said, surprised.

"Yep." Darcy replied quickly, getting used to people calling her that already. She found she rather liked being referred to as Doctor. She'd have to look into that when things were back to normal, Darcy determined.

"Oh! Wow. Sorry, I love your work, it's just... wow. Sorry." The woman flustered, obviously star struck because of Darcy. It was a weird feeling, and she felt uncomfortable for not being the person this receptionist thought she was.

"That's alright; I get it all the time." She lied. "Is there anything today or tomorrow?"

"Oh yes! I can fit you in, of course I can fit you in. I mean, you're like a rock star of the science community." The lady said again and Darcy could hear lots of typing and clicking over the line. "Can you do tomorrow morning? 8:30AM?"

"That would be awesome." Darcy found a pen quickly and scribbled the time on the back of the business card. "Book me in."

"Brilliant, see you then Dr. Lewis." Jennifer said then wished her a good day.

"You too. Bye." She hung up, feeling pleased with her progress despite still not knowing what was going on.

Darcy sat back on the sofa and for the first time since waking up, allowed herself to relax. She rested her head back on the high cushions and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in that helped calm her. This place was so strange and scary for her, she didn't know anyone properly, the people she knew were different and wrong here and she had no one to talk to. She hoped Bruce would recognize her and have answers but seeing as Jane, Thor and Nick couldn't tell anything was wrong with her and this world, hell not even Loki showed a sign of knowing how different this reality was, she doubted Bruce would be much help.

Tears built up being her closed lids as she let herself succumb to the overwhelming confusion and lost feelings she had been dealing with all day. She wished she had her real apartment, her real bed, her real life. Darcy laid down and curled up in the small sofa, hugging a hard pillow to her chest. She now knew how Alice felt when she was in Wonderland, or how Dorothy felt when she was in Oz and she hated it.

The hot tears spilled from her eyes and left damp trails as they fell into her hair. She wanted to click her heels together and wish for home, but she knew that was silly. Instead, she slowly drifted off into an uneasy sleep and dreamed of the last Avengers Movie night she was invited to.

Xxxxxx

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Tony's voice was the loudest of the complaints. "I would rather cut off my own arm than watch this piece of disgusting filth."

"But... It's Hannah Montana." Darcy whined, not caring how childish she sounded. "How is that "disgusting filth"?" She asked, shocked at Tony's choice of phrase.

Tony just shrugged and chucked the DVD case over his shoulder and with a twist of her hips, Natasha managed to grab it from her place at the poker table behind them as if it was nothing.

Darcy sat, mouth and eyes wide open as the whole scene played out between her, from Tony's lack of care about throwing other people's stuff to Natasha's ninja stealth even with her back turned to it.

"I just don't like it." Tony pouted and rummaged through the other DVD's Darcy brought with her.

"But… without the shades and the hair, she can go anywhere…" Darcy said quietly to herself which earned her a nudge from Clint who was sitting next to her on the large plush couch.

"Don't worry, young one. He just doesn't like that some people like to keep their alter-ego secret." Clint whispered, causing them both to smile and laugh. Tony's eyes narrowed at their private joke and Pepper had to place her hand on his shoulder to stop whatever he was about to do.

"What about Lion King?" Darcy suggested.

"Why are there only Disney movies here? Are you insane?" Tony asked, tossing Lion King over at Darcy to put on.

"I believe you mean awesome. Because I am. And so what? I like Disney. Growing up without parents was tough, Aladdin and Beauty and The Beast were the closest thing to a family I had." Darcy mumbled, wishing she hadn't drunk that large glass of wine before eating, she was getting too personal already and the movie night hadn't even started yet. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time she got inappropriately tipsy and shared too much information, at least this wasn't about her inappropriate crush on Clint. She could feel her face flush just at him whispering.

"You grew up without parents?" Clint asked, concern filled his tone.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Don't be all like "I'm sorry, I didn't know" because you all do. Just because I've never said it out loud before doesn't mean you have to act like you've never read my file." Clint shifted uncomfortably next to her, obviously unused to being called out on stuff like that. "Anyway, I warn you all now, I will sing along to _every_ song."

"Thanks for the heads up." Clint grabbed the remote and turned the huge television on and skipping the trailers.

"No problem. Hey, Cap, have you seen Lion King yet?" She called over to Steve who was in the bar area, his glass of milk in his hand was just adorable and Darcy wanted to say it but thought he might take it as an insult.

"Not yet, ma'am. It's on my list." He said with a smile. Darcy had been employed at S.H.I.E.L.D for just over a year now, since the Thor thing. A lot of the time she just got stuff that Jane needed although she was on the side trying to get Steve clued up on the past seventy years or so, starting with a chronological list of movies and music to listen to, last time she checked, he was somewhere in the early sixties so knew he probably hadn't seen Lion King yet, but he looked lonely in the corner of the room and wanted to include him.

"But you've seen Mary Poppins, right?" Steve nodded and walked over to the sofa area so Darcy didn't have to shout across the room at him anymore. She smiled to herself when he sat down next to Tony. They had formed an uneasy friendship now, at the start of these movie nights they wouldn't even speak, let alone sit next to each other willingly.

"I have. I just watched Funny Girl yesterday, I really enjoyed it. That Barbra Streisand sure is something." Steve said in awe.

Tony scoffed at Steve's words which caused Darcy to glare at him; luckily Steve didn't notice Tony's amusement. Uneasy friendship she reminded herself. Steve probably didn't understand the gay icon reference. He also wouldn't appreciate it; Darcy had seen Steve blush too often at her low cut tops or the time she accidently brushed her hip into his groan to know that he was anything but gay.

"Tell me about it." Darcy said with a kind smile, throwing a piece of popcorn at Tony which he caught in his mouth. "Hey you guys!" She called over her shoulder at Tash, Thor and Bruce. "Are you up for a bit of Shakespearian drama in the disguise of a kids cartoon movie with catchy songs?" She asked without ever looking in the direction of the poker table.

"You really think that's a good idea?" Natasha asked, Darcy could practically feel the agent's eyebrow rise at her. It took a moment for the pieces to fit together.

The would-be-King… betrayed by family… banished outside of his kingdom… She couldn't stop her eyes from flicking towards Thor and his ridiculously wide grin. Thank God Loki wasn't privy to these movie nights or this would just be a nightmare wrapped up in a bad idea.

"Maybe we should watch The Little Mermaid?" Jane contributed, clicking to the similarities of her boyfriend's life and the movie.

"JARVIS, what's the least offense movie that we can watch out of Darcy's selection." Tony asked, rather abruptly causing Jane to cover her eyes in shock at the bluntness. Darcy laughed and couldn't wait to hear what the artificial intelligence came up with, although she had a good idea.

"I am inclined to say, Mr Stark, the movie that would cause the least amount of awkward occurrences is Hannah Montana the Movie." The British robotic voice said after a moment of delegation.

"Aha!" Darcy yelled smugly, pointing a Tony with a giant smirk. "I knew it!"

"Fine!" Tony gave in, throwing his hands above his head in defeat. "I survived three months in a cave; I can cope with two hours this shit."

"You can't play the kidnapped by terrorists card to guilt trip us every week, Stark. After a while, it loses its effectiveness." Clint laughed and Darcy smiled inwardly when she felt him put his arm on the back of the sofa, close to her shoulders.

"I like the idea of a young girl being able to live a normal life while simultaneously fulfilling her dreams of entertainment." Bruce commented, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the two giant bowls that were prepared on the coffee table before joining the group by sitting on an empty chair facing the TV.

"Just because you have alter-ego issues-" Tony sulked again.

"Shush! We're watching Hannah Montana and if I hear you complain about it once more than you'll be on new recruit training all of next week." Steve said, effectively shutting up any complaints and letting Darcy's choice win the argument without any more incidents.

She relaxed back on the sofa and took a moment to glance around her group of friends. She still couldn't believe that she was so close with these people, what was weirder was the fact that it never felt like she was hanging around with a bunch of superheroes… it just felt normal. She smiled at Jane, who was now snuggled up at Thor's side, ready to watch the film.

"JARVIS! You're supposed to be on my side, I programmed you to be on my side." Tony didn't seem too shocked at Jarvis' results, but he had an audience and everyone knew he liked to play up around one.

"With all due respect, sir, you are wrong." The electronically snarky voice replied.

Tony clicked his fingers and slapped his left hand on the right before continuing. "Fine, but I get to hold the popcorn." He grabbed one of the giant bowls off the table and hugged it to his chest.

"Whatever dude, you and me are the only people here who like salt popcorn so none of these losers are going to complain." Darcy said as she reached over and grabbed a handful from the high jacked bowl. As she sat back in the chair she felt Clint's hand had moved down from its perch to her lower back, but didn't say anything, her heart beating a little louder than before.

"Natasha, you're closest, could you swap the DVD, please?" Darcy smiled at Steve's use of modern terms like that, he'd come a long way than when she first moved in. He often sulked in his room and spent hours wondering the streets of New York City, Queens and Brooklyn trying to look for familiarity in streets that had long since changed. Now he was more social and had less of a stick up his butt, which made Darcy pleased that her attempts to drag him out of his room looking longingly at those old pictures of Peggy and his war buddies and into the present where there were living people he could have fun with.

The movie started, and like every other movie night she'd been to, Tony somehow managed to make a drinking game out of it so by an hour into Miley Cyrus singing about how she had the best of both worlds the Avengers were fighting with each other about how no one noticed that she's living a double life or that if she "just wrote" The Climb how did the back-up singers and band know it already.

"But it's Disney." Darcy pouted, hugging a pillow to her chest defensibly.

"That still doesn't mean she can cut school and to lead this double life." Jane argued back, a bit more passionately than she should be, but after a few glasses of wine in her system, she was just going with it.

"Tell that to Peter Parker." Clint muttered which earned him a swift elbow in the gut from Natasha. Luckily no one but Darcy and Nat heard him, and Darcy wasn't gonna start asking questions about something obviously secret.

"But it's Disney." Darcy repeated. "Plus, she's rich, her dads rich, she a freakin' pop star, why does she even need school? If I had a mega rich famous parent then I would just cruise through life purely living off his leftover fame, like Miley Cyrus did until she began an awesome star in her own right." Darcy said proudly, a wide smile on her face as she went to reach for some more popcorn but Tony moved the bowl away before she could reach as if punishing her.

"Don't say that. That's not true." Tony said, a hurt look in his eye.

"Yeah... You're right, Tony. I'm too awesome to live off others." Darcy admitted with a wink. Tony winked back and offered her the popcorn which she took happily. It flicked through her mind that Tony was using positive and negative reinforcement on her but as long as she got popcorn she didn't mind. "Besides, you guys are the worst people to have conversations of alter-ego. I mean, 75% of you have them. Steve, Clint, Natasha, Thor, Bruce." She gave each of them a pointed look. "Why aren't any of you backing me up? I thought we were a team."

"She's got a point. You guys suck at back up." Tony and Darcy both stuck their tongues out at the same time at the others, not noticing their in-sync actions. Pepper did and smiled to herself.

"We'll back you up Darce, just not over Hannah Montana. We have _some_ dignity." Natasha said from her position on the floor.

Darcy cried out and clutched her heart. "How dare you! Hannah Montana is the American dream. Are you really going to question that in a room full of Americans and the Captain himself!?" Her overdramatic performance was mainly alcohol induced but she felt the need to defend her beloved childhood movie makers, even if this wasn't one of their most classic tales. She scowled and muttered about Russians being lame teasingly.

"Um... I'd rather not say anything." Steve said with a smirk that if Darcy didn't know better, she would have called it shit-eating.

"Oh my days! You're all ganging up on me? I didn't see any of you complaining when you wanted to learn the Hoedown Throwdown earlier!" Darcy crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back into the sofa cushions, pouting. Internally though Darcy was doing a little Snoopy dance at the team's bonding. She had secretly made it her mission to make the group more social, when she first moved into the tower everyone had the attitude of 'stay in their area unless there is a problem, then assemble' and that just wasn't cool with her. Now they had weekly movie night, a monthly poker game and a quarterly paintballing competition that she had set up for next week, not that she'd told any of them about that yet. She liked her misfit group of friends and although she was the youngest, none of them treated her that way and she never felt out of place, often they encouraged her to join them now, not the other way around. She overheard Tony talking to Pepper once about Darcy's place within the groups dynamic, he mentioned she was like their own personal mascot, filling in for the space left behind by Phil Coulson by making the team connect and work together. Darcy had fallen asleep with a smile on her face that night, finally feeling like she belonged and not like she was just some hopeless intern who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I rather like this young songstress. She has wisdom beyond her years and is rather amusing to watch." Thor said, a giant beer mug in his hand that was nearly empty and a huge bag of gummy bears resting on his lap.

"Thank you!" Darcy said, relieved, her arms flying towards Thor as supported her fight. "This man knows what he's talking about, he's a god so it's like sacrilegious to disagree."

"Demi-God."

"I don't think you understand what sacrilegious means." Jane said with a wince.

"Whatevs guys. And on that note, I'm out of here." Darcy said, standing up, instantly missing the warmth of Clint next to her. She mentally shook her head at how pathetic that sounded, even in her own head.

There was a chorus of 'goodnights' and Darcy headed towards the private elevator that led to all of their personal floors. She was slightly wobbly on her feet but managed to make it to the doors and press the little button without falling over.

"Darcy?" She spun round as she waited for the lift and saw Pepper approaching her, how was it that she could still look so glamorous even in cut off denim shorts and an oversized AC:DC t-shirt that was blatantly Tony's.

"S'up." She said with a dazed smile, wishing she wasn't as tipsy as she felt. Group conversations were fine, she could disguise the alcohol's effects as her usual overenthusiastic nature, but in one on one chats, she was more likely to put her foot in her mouth and say something stupid. Like the time she said to a bartender how she didn't like tattoos in visible places only to see his wife and kids names printed on his forearms as he poured her fourth glass of wine. Safe to say she didn't go back there again.

"Can I have a word?"

"Of course, sorry about that before, I didn't mean to start a real argument or anything."Darcy began to ramble.

Pepper waved her arm in front of her, laughing the whole thing off. "Oh, don't worry about that. It's not a movie night without a little debate."

"Oh... okay." They both stepped inside the elevator and watched as the door slid shut. "What's wrong then?" Darcy was trying to rack her brain for something, anything, she'd done wrong recently and was surprisingly coming up blank. Her brain to mouth filter was working quite well these days and she hadn't tased any newbies or anything.

"Nothing's wrong!" Pepper said sincerely. "Gosh, no. I wanted to invite you to dinner tomorrow evening, if you're free."

Darcy blinked, gobsmacked. She was not expecting that at all. "Like a date?"

"No! Not like that." Pepper laughed but Darcy just watched the older, much taller woman in shock. "It would be with me and Tony. It was his idea actually, you've been living here just under three months and we were hoping to get to know you a little better."

"We... as in you and Tony." Darcy tried to understand what was being asked.

"Well, we were hoping you would be there as well." Pepper said with a smirk, which like her shirt, Darcy imagined she stole from Tony.

"Yeah. Okay. I'm free. I totally don't understand why you want to spend an evening alone with me, willingly, but I'm up for dinner with Ironman and the infamous Pepper Potts. It'll probably even write home about it." Darcy said, knowing that she probably had a huge goofy grin on her face.

"Write home?"

"Well, if I had one." Darcy said dismissively. "You guys are kind of the only home I have. Not to sound too pathetic. Ignore me. I'm a little bit tipsy." Darcy's mind was screaming for her to shut up, she knew this would happen. Talking to intimidating and stunning woman in enclosed spaces after a bottle of wine always ended badly. Darcy gave a short laugh. "I bet you're regretting that invitation now." Darcy said dryly.

Pepper merely smiled, looking completely unaffected by the young woman's random and long-winded word vomit. She looked like the personification of kind-heartedness. Darcy reasoned that Pepper must have the patience of a saint and the heart of a lion to work so closely while also dating Tony Stark and Darcy was thankful it was Pepper witnessing her pointless and embarrassing drunken rambling and not anyone else. That woman clearly knew how to keep a secret.

"Actually, I can't wait." Pepper, for a fraction of a second, looked awkward, like she was questioning her next move but then it was gone, so fleeting that Darcy almost thought she imagined it. The older woman then leaned across and wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her close.

Woah. It took a moment for her brain to catch up that Pepper was hugging her but when it sunk it Pepper had already pulled away, the elevator doors sliding open to reveal Darcy's floor.

"Yeah, me too. Er... thanks." Darcy was too startled to say anything more eloquent as she left the metal box and headed towards her room.

"I'll email the time and everything tomorrow morning, I'll have to call and confirm the reservation. Sleep well, Darcy."

The doors closed, leaving a confused Darcy staring at the place where Pepper stood.

Shit.

She did NOT have anything suitable for the standard of dinning Tony and Pepper were used to.

Shit. Shit.

She would have to go out on her lunch hour and buy a nice dress or something so she didn't look like a complete dork when she turned up to a Michelin star quality restaurant in leggings and her favourite t-shirt of an male astronaut with a quote bubble saying he "needed more space" to a female astronaut. Even now, two years after buying it, she couldn't stop laughing out loud every time she saw it.

Darcy lay on top of her bed and closed her eyes. Tonight was fun. And with that thought, she fell asleep.

Xxxxxx

* * *

So… Chapter 2…

Let me know what you think! Reviews really are the biggest and bestest reward you could give a writer.

This is probably the longest chapter of the whole story (or at least the longest I've written so far) I'm planning this fic to be about 12 chapters long and am currently on chapter 7 so… over halfway there :-)

I can't wait to hear what you all think!

Charlie


	3. Chapter 3

Suspend My Disbelief

Xxxxxx

* * *

Chapter three on its way! A gigantic thanks to Sandra, who as always, is amazing and hugely supportive, especially with my Loki characterization, it's so difficult to get him feeling like the Loki we all know and love and yet not because this isn't the Loki we all know and love! Gah! My confidence on characterization is taking a huge knock from this fic and I'm doubting my ability to actually do this justice :-S

Anyway, panic over.

I hope you enjoy reading this next chapter and thanks again to everyone who reviewed the last two chapters, all your kind words have been an amazing motivator so thank you.

Xxxxxx

* * *

Chapter 3

She stirred on the couch for what felt like hours until her body was ready to wake up fully. Her head was throbbing to the point where her eyes almost felt like they were pulsating, she needed to find some pain killers. Her eyes were dry and sore, the tell tale signs that she cried herself to sleep and now her back was joining in on the party of achiness, because she was stupid and decided not to nap on the perfectly good bed just in the next room but the overly soft and unsupportive sofa.

For some reason, sleeping in that other Darcy's bed just felt weird. That wasn't hers, this apartment wasn't hers; this life wasn't hers. She felt like a reluctant thief. Waking up and walking around in Doctor Darcy Lewis' shoes, faking she knew science so she didn't look out of place or insane for telling the truth. She felt like such a fraud, how did Clint and Natasha do this when they went undercover? Lying and pretending to be someone she wasn't was exhausting, and she couldn't keep it up for much longer. Luckily, she might not have to.

It was dark outside and Darcy glanced at the bright laptop that was still open on the coffee table to see it was 5am. She slept over twelve hours. Yep, pretending to be someone else and spying on her friends was tiring work, she concluded with a long stretch and yawn.

Today she was seeing Dr. Bruce Banner who would hopefully have some idea what was going on, or he could be completely clueless like Jane, she thought, in a moment of dread, passing through her quickly like she'd been burnt. No, Darcy did not do negative thinking, she told herself. Bruce was an intelligent man, he would remember her and the proper lives they were meant to be living, not this alternative version. He would be able to tell her exactly what was going on because he was smarter and quicker than her and would have already figured it all out, and together, well mainly because of him, they would fix everything.

Yep, that's how today was going to play out, Darcy decided, pushing the dread and panic down and edging away from the freak out she was about to have.

She stood up, squared her shoulders with a new sense of purpose and headed towards her bathroom. Flicking the switch on before running the water for a much needed shower, her back was stiff and the hot water would help loosen all the tension she was feeling.

Going back to normal would ease the strain, she thought as she looked at her tired face in the mirror. She leaned over the sink to get closer and ran a hand over her face, there were a couple of lines from sleeping on an awkward shaped sofa and having her face pressed against a cushion for hours, but that's not what surprised her, there were a few tiny lines in the corner of her eyes that certainly weren't from a bad night's sleep. She placed a finger on the delicate skin and poked at them. Yep, definitely wrinkles.

She stood back and slowly stripped out of the random clothes she'd tossed on in a hurry yesterday morning, examining various things as she did so. It felt completely pervy, to be naked and unavoidably looking at the body of someone that is you but also isn't, Darcy had to wash, if not for the sake of her hair, then because she would probably start smelling soon and actually didn't know the last time this body had had a shower, which was a really strange conversation to have with herself.

Stepping under the hot streaming water, it washed over her like a dream. She let out a deep sigh that she didn't even know was stored up in her chest and looked at her foot. She wriggled the toes to check they were hers, but they were painted a horrendous bright orange color. Darcy winced and instantly decided that the tacky and trashy nail polish had to come off next. Lord knows that Darcy wore bright, almost neon colored nail varnish before, but she hated the color orange, it was ingrained in her since her first day of school when she had to wear a dull orange polo shirt that could only be compared to the color of a rotting pumpkin. She tightly curled her toes and shook off the shiver that ran down her spine at the memories of years of classes surrounded by that truly hideous and soul destroying shade.

She quickly ran a luffa with some body wash over her skin and let the water just soak her hair. Darcy needed to think of her next steps, she had to have a plan or she'd start to freak out and then she wouldn't know what to do. So, today she had a meeting with Bruce Banner, hopefully he'd have some answers, if not then she'd go to Stark Tower and find Tony. He was a genius and just the right amount of insane that he might just believe her when she told him in her world he was a superhero, well, him believing that might have more to do with his ego than anything else. Anyway, those were her next two steps, if both failed, then she'd just have to hunt down other, less accessible Avengers like Clint or Natasha or The Cap himself, although who knew what they were up to in this backwards place. Darcy added them onto her list of Google research and rinsed the shampoo out of her hair.

Getting dressed was hard. All of her clothes were boring and too smart for her to feel comfortable in, it seemed the only Darcy standard thing this alterative her had was the baggy jumper she was wearing. She sighed and grabbed a pair of jeans and a deep burgundy blouse with tiny white and yellow floral patterns that looked the least stuffy to her. She spotted mountains of hair products on her dresser that she had bypassed last night when she was hunting for a computer but now took time to examine them. There were hair straighteners, a curling iron, various clips and brushes that Darcy had never seen before and tens of different bottles of lotions and sprays that did multiple things. Darcy's mouth twisted into a scowl. Sure, she spent the odd few times getting her hair all made up, taking hours to curl it to perfection or straighten the crap out of it until her scalp hurt from all the pulling, but this stuff made it clear that whoever she was here, spent every day making sure her hair was pristine and stylish. She picked up one of the less complicated looking brushes and started to untangle her hair. Darcy was more of a 'bothering to half blow dry her hair, get bored then let it dry naturally throughout the rest of the morning' kind of person. Which was exactly what happen after two minutes of blowing hot air in her own face. She switched the hair dryer off in a huff and let it fall to the floor; she preferred her hair naturally wavy anyway. It's not like she was trying to impress anyone or anything.

She flipped open her jewellery box, one of the few objects in this apartment she recognized. It was her mother's. Or at least that's what the manager of her foster home had told her. They said her mother had shoved it in her hands as she helped Darcy out of their burning house then went back in for "something important" only to get trapped. And... Darcy's fingers on the lid of the antique metal tightened. She wondered if her mother was alive in this world. She tried not to think about it, knowing it would be a bad route to go down, but the tears were already forming in her eyes as the idea was added to her list of things to do today.

She pulled out a chain that lay neatly on the top. One of her mother's. Opening the clasp carefully, she wrapped it around her neck and secured it in place before taking the little pendant between her fingers and looking at its reflection in the mirror. It was a gold heart, the swirly kind that's lines at the top met and continued into the hollow middle of the charm where a red stone was set, connected slightly off center, like a heart in a chest, well, that's what it always reminded Darcy of. The chain had broken years ago so she had to replace it, it was only then that she realized how expensive the necklace really was. She knew her father, some dude that abandoned them apparently, had brought it for her mother, Darcy didn't expect it to be worth much, but when the jeweller said he'd give her a brand new gold chain, just so he could keep the broken one, she knew it was worth a lot more than she ever thought about. Suddenly her sentiment and attachment to it didn't feel so silly. It was a sort of proof that her dad did love them, even if he was never there. Not that she remembered her mother either, she was only four when the fire happened, but it was something at least.

She wondered if her dad was around in this reality... No! She immediately pushed that thought to the back of her head.

When she had finished inspecting the rest of her jewellery collection, most of which was wayyyy to fancy and nice for her to ever afford, Darcy started to think becoming an astrophysicist wasn't such a bad idea if she could buy all this pretty stuff. If only she had the brains to actually understand whatever Jane and Dr Banner and Tony ever talked about, not just retain it without ever learning. Her brain was full of completely useless knowledge, Avengers trivia and a lot of political science facts, but apart from that... Nada. She wondered why Jane still let her work for her sometimes but always came back to the whole "seen too much" excuse. She also used to rack her brain for a reason why Tony invited her to live with them all at Stark Tower, she could easily have found a place to live nearby and commuted, but he insisted. Darcy prided herself that it was her sparkling personality, but it was more likely a 'security' thing.

It was half past six by the time Darcy stepped into her kitchen and pulled out the box of left over pizza from the refrigerator. She ripped off a slice and sat on the sofa, cross legged, watching that morning's news as she chewed on the pepperoni covered bread.

Everything seemed the same in terms of sports matches that were happening today, there was a speech from the President happening later that Darcy remembered wanting to watch the other day, so it seemed that things unrelated to the Avengers were unaffected by whatever was happening.

Darcy sighed, switching off the TV that was no help to her and decided that she might as well leave now, she had a rough idea where Bruce's office was, and it would take her about half an hour to walk there and find it, that gave her plenty of time to hunt for other things that were out of place and pick up some coffee on the way. She threw the left half eaten pizza in the trash and grabbed her handbag, checking her phone with one hand while she struggled to lock the door with the other. Two texts, one from Jane asking if she was feeling any better and the other from Jake who said he was going on a spur of the moment trip to visit his parents, and if she needed him than she had his number. Darcy frowned at the phone, weird; you'd think a caring boyfriend would want to stay around when his girlfriend was having a mental breakdown… Not that Darcy really minded, with him out of the way, it meant one less thing to worry about.

"Morning Darcy." Darcy spun around so quickly she almost tripped backwards into her apartment door. She stopped and looked wide eyed at the stranger who greeted her. Only it wasn't a stranger at all.

"Morning Phil?" She said slowly, like seeing a ghost. Which to her, she was. Phil had died, Loki killed him. She'd seen the footage and everything.

"It's me, Darcy. Hank. We worked on the same floor at Asgard Corp until they moved you to S.H.I.E.L.D." Darcy blinked and stared at the man who wasn't Phil. No, he had changed suddenly. This Hank person was blonde, younger, and had a little bit more hair than Phil. He also wasn't wearing the standard suit Darcy had become accustomed to seeing him in, this Hank was wearing cream colored kakis and a dark blue polo shirt.

"Of course. Sorry, I don't know where Phil came from." She said sheepishly, still looking at him wearily as she spoke.

"That's alright, it's early. What are you up to today? How are things going at S.H.I.E.L.D anyway?" He asked kindly as they began to walk down the stairs together. Darcy gave a bright smile at this stranger but tried to act as casual as she could.

"It's great. They have much better…" She paused, trying to think of a word... any word! She was beginning to freak out and couldn't think of one simple lie. Shit. She was so screwed, if she couldn't even do this with a random stranger that didn't matter, how was she supposed to convince Jane and everyone she knew that things were fine while she sorted things out. "Resources." She finally blurted out, proud of her vague but effective word.

"Yes, so I've heard." Hank agreed with a knowing nod. Darcy did a mental fist pump as they reached the front door. "We've all missed you and Jane around the place." Hank said suddenly. Darcy raised an eyebrow at him, not really knowing where he was going with this. "I mean, you were always such a laugh, it gets mighty boring without you two."

Darcy's face broke out into a smile and she gave Hank's shoulder a nudge with her fist as she laughed a little too loudly on the streets of New York at 7AM. "Thanks Hank. That- that means a lot."

"So what are you up to?" Hank asked again. "Can I interest you in some breakfast?"

"No, I'm in a bit of a hurry." She lied, she did not have time to make friends with random people. She needed to stay focused and not get distracted by men… even if they did have some amazing cheek dimples… So cute! "Sorry."

"That's okay. Maybe I'll see you later. My door is always open if you want to moan about work or that boyfriend of yours." He said with a wink and walked off in the opposite direction that Darcy needed thankfully.

She fished out her Stark Phone and plugging in some headphones, she opened up a playlist and listened to the most played songs that this version of her listened to. Darcy was pleased to find they were similar if not the same songs she had on her iPod, mouthing the lyrics as she walked around the already busy streets. She popped into a small café and got some extra strong coffee before going to the public library and taking some of her own published books out on loan and she was so pleased when she found a book on World War Two propaganda that had several chapters dedicated to Captain America. She took them out and got a rather strange look from the male librarian when he noticed she was checking out her own book. She just stared into space as if nothing was wrong and thanked him before hurrying out of there.

Her handbag weighed a hell of a lot more now, and she was thankful to only be two blocks away from Bruce's offices. She hugged it to her chest and spotted a copy of Forbes Magazine with Thor and Loki's face on, opposite a picture of Tony Stark, the sentence next to them read "The Future is Now". Darcy had to do a double take before she noticed that it was a photo shopped image and that Tony, Thor and Loki weren't actually in a room together. She picked up that copy and a packet of gum before waving it at the man in the stand.

"Can I get these please?" She asked, calling above the noise of some men doing road work at the end of the street.

"Sure, $8." Darcy handed over a $10 bill and walked away. She needed to read this for herself. She knew first-hand how each brother felt on the merger but how did the public see it? Why where the public so aware of it if Asgard Corp. had yet to say yes to the plans? Darcy was confused and intrigued; she needed to know this stuff if she had to keep faking to be 'Dr. Darcy Lewis' for much longer.

The first sentence started by saying: "When Tony Stark announced his sudden and surprising interest in merging with Asgard Corp. at his post-capture news conference…." Darcy rolled her eyes. Of course. Tony had rubbed Loki the wrong way by telling the world of his plans before even discussing it with the two men that owned the company Stark wanted to join forces with, effectively tying their hands, after all, who would say no to a prisoner of war who just wanted to make the future brighter? Darcy had to laugh out loud at that. She shut the magazine and added it to her collection in her handbag as she neared the building that homed Bruce's office, before checking her phone for the time.

8:20. Perfect.

She opened the front door and took the lift to the top level where his practise was located.

"Morning." Darcy said with a smile as she approached the counter.

"Dr. Lewis!" The young receptionist said enthusiastically. I didn't take much for Darcy to guess this was the Jennifer she spoke to yesterday.

"Yep, that's me. Do you want me to take a seat or something?" She looked at the comfy leather couches, her shoulder begging her to put down the heavy books.

"Of course! I'll let Bruc- Dr. Banner know that you are here." She said, trying to remain professional but not succeeding as she pressed a little button on the phone before she could even finish her sentence.

"Cool. I'll be over there then." Darcy spun on her heel but Jennifer stopped her.

"Dr. Lewis?" She sounded nervous.

"Yep?"

"I need you to fill out a little bit of paper work if that's okay?" She held out a clip board and a pen that Darcy willingly took. "Also, while you have a pen…" Jennifer said, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Could you sign my copy of Discover?"

Darcy couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. She'd seen this kind of behavior before, mainly in Avengers fans who hung around the building waiting for their chance to see one of them, but it was never directed at her. It was beyond odd. Darcy nodded as she put her bag on the floor and put the clip board on the desk.

"Sure, I'd love to." She said, a direct quote from Captain America when he greeted fans. Jennifer opened her top drawer and pulled the magazine out, carefully laying it on the desk. Darcy loved the fact that she was so prepared, having the journal already at hand, she had to respect the girl's determination. "Where-" Darcy stopped talking as soon as she saw the front cover. It was her and Jane. A professional photo shoot type photo. Jane was holding a giant blow up globe of Earth and they were walking up a yellow brick road, their shoes edited to look red like Dorothy's in The Wizard of Oz. Darcy gulped. Yep, definitely beyond weird… "Just on the front?" She asked, suddenly freaking out again at how surreal all this was to her and how stupid the photographer of this image was that made them think _that _was the best way to portray their research. Darcy liked cheesy, but that was just nauseatingly bad.

"That would be brilliant. Thank you." Jennifer said, and Darcy struggled to think of what to write. She bit her upper lip and ended up going with something lame and unoriginal, 'Science is awesome and so are you, best wishes, Dr. Darcy Lewis' and handed it back to the woman the same age as her, embarrassed at how pathetic that probably sounded. "Oh my God, this is amazing. Thank you so much Dr. Lewis! I love what you're doing for woman in science, and your research is just… wow!" Jennifer started to ramble and Darcy was definitely reminded of those crazy fans outside Stark Tower.

"Thanks. It's nothing."

"No really, you are so-" Jennifer started her praises again but was interrupted.

"Jennifer, would you leave the poor woman alone." Darcy looked up and smiled when she saw Bruce Banner, he was half out of his office door, his usual dishevel look was completely gone, replaced by a smart pairs of suit trousers and a freshly pressed deep purple shirt. She had seen him like this before, in those S.H.I.E.L.D files they kept of him before the… incident. But since then, he didn't really care for looks. Darcy was already saddened to see him like this here; it meant he most likely didn't remember his real life either. Damn it. Darcy's smile faltered but she managed to keep it in place. "Dr. Lewis, I presume." He reached out to shake her hand. Darcy juggled the pen from one hand to the other awkwardly before shaking his firmly.

"You presume correctly, Dr. Banner." Darcy said with a smile, searching his warm brown eyes for some kind of recognition.

"I'm sorry about Jennifer; she's my cousin, working here for a year before going to college to study Quantum Mechanics. You're kind of her idol." Bruce whispered that last part close to Darcy's ear before letting go of her hand and gesturing towards his office. "Would you like to follow me?"

"Thanks. I haven't filled in that form." Darcy looked at the abandoned form that lay on the top of the desk.

"Don't worry about that, you can do it after. Right now, let's just get you settled in so we can chat." Darcy paused, not knowing if she could cope with an hour of pretending to be Dr. Lewis to someone she knew but also didn't. She sighed, shoulders sinking as she lifted her heavy bag off the floor and walked behind him into the next room.

Come on Darcy, something good will come out of this. You can do this! She kept telling herself as she sat down on a firm but comfy couch that only had one arm.

"Am I meant to lie down?" Darcy asked awkwardly, not sure how to sit, should she cross her legs? Should she fold her arms? She crossed them then immediately uncrossed them. No, that looked defensive, but now she did that too quickly and she'd look like she was conscious of how she looked. Damn it, shrinks always freaked her out, the S.H.I.E.L.D one they assigned to her when she first started working for them was evil, she wouldn't stop bringing up her parents and Darcy had nearly cried by the end of it.

"Last time I saw a shrink, she nearly made me cry." Darcy blurted out before she could stop the words from coming out.

Bruce gave a soft laugh and ran a hand through his hair, making it look a bit messier than before, more like the Bruce she knew. It made Darcy feel better.

"Well, let's hope that doesn't happen again. I promise, I'm a nice person." He said with a crooked smile that Darcy couldn't help but smile long with.

"Good. So where do I begin?" She looked past Bruce's shoulders at the various Rorschach tests that he had printed on the walls. She pointed at the biggest one. "Is that meant to be a Giant?" She asked, her mouth twisting in distain at the imposing man.

Bruce looked over his shoulder at the picture then turned about to her with a smile on his face. "Dr. Lewis-"

"Please, please just call me Darcy. I'm fed up with this Doctor stuff." She said as she pulled out the books she got at the library and put them on the side of the couch next to her. In for a penny… she thought as she decided to tell him everything.

"Okay, Darcy, tell me about your father." Bruce asked, without it really being a question.

"I didn't have a dad. He abandoned my mom when she got pregnant, then my mom died when I was a small kid. I can't remember them." Darcy said, making sure the books were straight before turning her focus fully back on Bruce. "Hey! Why did you ask that first? That's the first thing the other psychologist asked me."

"That, Darcy," He pointed his pen behind him at the picture. "Is usually seen as an animal rug. Any response that's related with dominance, for example, a person looking up at a giant man or animal are often associated with lack of a father figure or a problem with authority figures." Darcy's mouth formed little 'o' as she listened to Bruce's explanation. "As I know, you are in a very high position of power with a lot of responsibly, I know you don't have authority issues, so that leaves dad."

"Oh. I made that real easy for you, didn't I?"

Bruce's face crinkled up and gave a small chuckle. "Little bit, yeah."

"Sorry. I'm actually not here about my lack of father figure. I'm here because I need to talk to someone or I'm going to explode!" Darcy said, cursing herself at how dramatic she sounded.

Bruce leaned back in his chair, obviously interested in the books she brought along with her. "Go on."

"Alright, but you need to promise to hear me out, and none of this can leave the room unless I say so? Okay?" Darcy glared at him, trying to seem as commanding as possible. She seriously hoped he didn't just laugh at her.

"You have my word." Bruce said softly.

Darcy closed her eyes and let out a long breath before starting. "Good. Thank you." She muttered, then continued. "This world is messed up. I woke up yesterday morning to find that the world, the job, the people I knew were wrong, that I'm different here." She groaned, she wasn't starting very well. "Let me try again. Where I come from, the people I know… it's different. Very different. I'm not a doctor, I'm just a lab assistant, Jane Foster is not my science partner, she's my boss. Thor and Loki are brothers but they are Gods on a planet called Asgard not some company. Thor is a superhero and part of a group called The Avengers, so are you! Along with Tony Stark, Captain America, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. Loki tried to take over the world a few months ago with an alien race that you all defeated. Basically, I know it sounds crazy, but superheroes are real, you're one of them, but here… None of it exists. Either I'm in the wrong place or you all are." Darcy took a deep breath in and showed pictures of Captain America fighting Nazi's from the book she borrowed. "This happened. Captain America isn't some cartoon character where I come from, he's a real man. Please tell me you believe me?"

Bruce was kind enough to lean over and look at a few pages of the book she was showing him before he sat back and let his initial assessment known.

"Dr. Lewis, I need to ask you a few questions before I can say anything, please don't take any of them the wrong way, I just need to know the answers before we can continue." Darcy nodded slowly, she suddenly felt very worried about how crazy she probably just sounded to him. Can they still lock you up in a mental ward if you weren't a danger to anyone? Just a bit… confused. "Have you hit your head recently?"

"No. Wait, yes, yesterday morning when I woke up, but that was after I already knew all this stuff." Darcy said with confidence that her smacking her head on the wall yesterday wasn't the catalyst for this.

"Okay. Have you experienced any persistent headaches recently?"

"I guess… yesterday again but that was because I was confused and woke up in bed with a stranger and… had hit my head." She said feebly. "Doc, this isn't something I imagined, this is some trick, some spell that Loki, my evil Loki, not this business man version of him, did!" Darcy felt the tears pricking her eyes but angrily blinked them away.

"Okay, Darcy, please, I'm not asking these because I don't believe you. They are just part of this form I have to fill in, okay?" Darcy tried to calm her breathing, not really trusting him. "Have you been experiencing any dizziness or nausea?"

"Nope."

"Stress at work or home?"

"Nada."

"Recent lack of self-awareness?"

Darcy blurted out a laugh, not expecting that one. "Sorry, I always seem to have that. You want to note down lack of brain filter as well?" Darcy leaned over to look at the notes Bruce was jotting down, but he carefully angled them away from her with a sympathetic smile. Guess she wasn't allowed to see the answers, Darcy thought sourly.

"That's quite alright, I always think that's a weird question, I mean, how would a person know about their self-awareness if they didn't have any?" Darcy gave him a small smile, but it didn't help her feel any better about his assessment.

"Look, Bruce. I didn't come here for an assessment; I came here because I need you to know that this isn't real. You do great things in the real world. You save lives-"

"A lot of people could argue that I do that here, Darcy."

"No, you don't get it! You're a hero! Kids walk around with you on their backpacks, little boys want to grow up and be you. Are you telling me none of this rings a bell?"

"Alright, Darcy, how am I a superhero?"

"Huh?" Darcy suddenly panicked. Okay, if she sounded crazy before, explaining why and how Bruce is a hero will be the final nail in the coffin of her sanity.

"What's my superpower? Do I fly? Can I read minds?" Bruce tapped his pen on his bottom lip and smiled to himself. "I must say, I've often wished I could read some people's thoughts, it would make my job a lot easier." Darcy wished he'd stop being so nice about his scepticism. She was either hoping for him to know exactly what she was talking about or get laughed out of his office and hope he wouldn't tell anyone how mental she was. But he was being kind, asking sensible and attentive questions about her story. It almost made it harder.

"I bet. Well…. Er…. You kind of have super strength and can jump really really far." Darcy motioned with her hand a jumping motion. "Like, super far." She finished lamely.

"Alright, and how did I get these powers? Was I born with them?" Now he seemed really interested. Darcy almost didn't have the heart to tell him.

"You… er…. There was an incident… more like an accident actually. With Gamma Radiation?" She asked to see if he had any familiarity with it. "You got a mega dose that should have probably killed you, but there was something already in your genes that meant you kind of formed a… split personality?" Whatever confidence she walked in that room with was now completely gone. "So when you get angry, you sort of 'hulk out' and all these superpowers come along with it."

"Hulk out?" Bruce considered that for a long time, recognizing the similarities in her explanation and his prized theory, which left Darcy fidgeting in her seat uncomfortably as he took in everything she had told him.

"Yeah…." Darcy sighed, falling back on the sofa and giving up hope. "What do I do? I mean, I can't keep living as this alterative me; I'm not a doctor of anything. Everything I know is wrong here and I just want to go home." Darcy closed her eyes and let the tears fall. "I'm not strong enough like Thor or Captain America to fight off Loki until he gives up on the spell. I'm not smart enough like Jane or you to solve the problem myself. I'm not sneaky enough like Natasha or Clint to play him at his own game. I don't know where to go from here, Bruce. I'm totally lost." Darcy covered her eyes with her hand and let the lump in her throat out. She just needed a sign, a clue of what to do next, because right now all hope looked lost and she wasn't the right girl to deal with this. This was more Jane and Natasha's strong suit.

"I think I can help." Bruce's calm voice interrupted her mini-breakdown.

"You can?" Darcy sat up quickly, excited that he would help her. "Will you help me convince everyone that this is just a spell?" Her face fell when she watched Bruce reach for a prescription pad.

"I was thinking more like an anti-anxiety drug. Your recent head trauma, along with the head aches, it's easy to understand your confusion, this will help you keep calm." Bruce said sadly and Darcy almost snorted out loud at the irony of Bruce 'The Freakin' Hulk' Banner telling _her_ to keep calm! Instead she just sighed; she knew that she would have to do this completely alone. No one was going to believe her and if she kept talking like this to someone who had the authority to lock her up on a psychiatric ward under 'observations' then that's what would most likely happen. Nope. Darcy needed to channel some inner Black Widow and start being sneaky.

She nodded, accepting the piece of paper that he handed over, his signature scrawled along the bottom like this was a cure.

"Thanks, maybe these will help clear my head. Thanks doc." Darcy said as she shoved her library books back into her bag with a little too much force than necessary. "Maybe Jane's right, a few days off, I'm just stressed and over worked with this merger, you know?" Darcy lied. She needed to get out of there, no longer finding Bruce's presence comforting but just a reminder that she looked insane in this upside down and back to front world.

"Well, I'm glad I could help." Darcy wanted to snort again in his face as he reached out a hand to shake hers. "I want you to book an appointment in two days' time so I can see how you're getting on with those meds, okay? And let me know if the headaches get worse or more persistent."

Darcy nodded and smiled. "Sure thing." She said through gritted teeth. "Thanks again." She left the room quickly and made a b-line for the desk while scrunching up the prescription and shoving it in her pocket, not even wanting to touch the damn thing. "Hey, Jennifer. I need to book in for two days from now, is that okay?"

"Sure, same time?"

"Yep." Darcy answered quickly, not really caring or having any intention to turn up then. Hopefully in two days' time she'll be back home where everything was normal again. "You still need me to fill in those forms?"

"Yes please." Jennifer said with a wide smile. Darcy felt bad for the girl; she hoped her disappointment and anger at Bruce's lack of real help wasn't being directed at her.

Darcy grabbed the clip board with her free hand and turned to face the couches she saw earlier. She gave a sharp intake of air when she recognized the man waiting, one long leg crossed over the other elegantly, and his expensive and recently polished shoes reflecting the artificial light of the office.

"Dr. Lewis, I was not expecting to see you here." He said, standing up to greet her.

"Oh, I can honestly say the same, Mr. Odinson." Darcy wanted to give a bitter laugh at her luck. Loki had caught her checking out the other Avengers; she was in so much trouble. She was already surprised he didn't just kill her after the last time they met, but now, she guessed, he was here to finish the job.

He gave a bright smile and Darcy was struck with how normal and handsome he looked, she guessed acting normal in this reality was doing him some good. "I actually wanted to talk to you after our last… meeting." Loki said carefully, obviously thinking about each word before his mouth formed them. Something she wasn't really familiar with.

"Oh?" Darcy glanced over her shoulder and was thankful to see Jennifer was still sitting behind her desk, typing on the computer oblivious to their conversation. At least she was there, Darcy told herself, Loki wouldn't kill her in front of someone else, would he? Then again, Loki loved making a spectacle in Germany with that whole 'eye ordeal' in front of all those people. Totally gross and scary by the way. She retracted her previous thought and nerves creeping up her spine and her fingering itching to tase him or something. Anything that meant she could protect her eyes with her hands so he couldn't steal them, then leg it out of the building.

"Yes, I feel we got off on the wrong foot, partly my fault, I can assure you. But I would like to remedy that." What? Was she hearing this right? She blinked in surprise as he ran a hand over his dark hair smoothly; making sure it was safely tucked behind his ear in a slightly endearing nervous manner. Only slightly, she told herself, and not endearing! "I just didn't expect to see you so soon…" He let the implication hang there.

Darcy was certain her eyebrows were in her hair line. Was he _apologising_? "Yeah…" There was an awkward pause when Darcy had absolutely no words to say. Luckily Loki seemed to be well versed in awkward small talk.

"Coffee." He blurted out which only made Darcy's mouth fall open wider and her eyes nearly pop out of her head. "I mean, if you're available, would you like to get some coffee?"

"With you?!" She knew it came out shocked and from his hurt expression it must have sounded extremely rude to offend him.

"That was the general idea, yes." Her abruptness must have been making him feel uncomfortable because he ran his hand through his hair again apprehensively, only his arm hovered above his head as he smoothed down the mess he just made. "See, I… I have an appointment now." Darcy's eyes betrayed her as she glanced over at Bruce's door that she just walked out of. "But if you are free in say an hours' time, then I know this great little place not far from here…"

Darcy mind was panicking. Was he messing with her? Was this all part of the trick he was playing? Darcy was seriously beginning to doubt that Loki had any part in this whole mess, that or he was an incredibly good actor. She stumbled over a few stray words before she made up her mind.

"Er… that… I mean… Yes! I would love that- like that. I mean I would like that." Darcy finished firmly. It would be a great way to get more information out of him, she told herself. Some more time alone with him would tell her what game he was playing. Or lose and eye and get her killed, she thought bitterly. Was she really going to agree to this?

Yes, a voice that sounded oddly like Phil Coulson rang inside her head. Because she currently had no other leads and this one was standing right in front of her.

"That's great." He flashed her a bright white sparkling smile, and she couldn't help but get caught up with it and smile back.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Darcy asked suddenly then almost instantly wanted to bang her head against the wall. "Sorry, that was such an inappropriate thing to ask. Don't feel like you have to answer." Darcy quickly tried to cover up her mistake.

"That's okay." He gave a soft laugh, looking more relaxed than she ever imagined an insane God to look. "I thought my problems would be obvious." Loki joked, and Darcy had to bite the inside of her lips to keep them closed. She shook her head slowly, urging him to go on. "I recently found out I was adopted, plus I run half of a Fortune 500 company, I deal with a lot of stress."

"Oh. I'm sorry about the adoption thing." Darcy said, feeling the urge to reach out and stroke him arm but kept her hands tightly clasped in front of her, holding the clip board tightly to her chest.

Loki paused, running a hand over his mouth before pointing at her. "I thought you'd know about the whole adoption thing, everyone else seems to... It was in all the papers, I think one even compared it to a now-a-days Prince of Egypt story."

"Only without the whole slavery stuff." Darcy teased. "Plus Helen Mirren probably isn't your mom." Darcy knew from Loki's raised eyebrows and quizzical look that she should probably shut up.

"You seem to have an overly fond obsession with Disney." Loki said, assumed, recalling her comments about Disney she'd made the day before.

Darcy winced and her grip on the clip board got a bit tighter. "It's, er… it's not Disney… Prince of Egypt was Dreamworks." Darcy felt herself blushing at her useless knowledge of kids' animation but couldn't stop from sharing it. "It's a common mistake people confuse all animated kids films as

Disney, especially the older ones. Like Anastasia, that was Fox… not Disney." She finished lamely. Loki just stared at her like she was speaking another language. "Anastasia? You've never seen it? Rasputin… he had a bat for a side kick… how do you not know this?" Darcy asked, shocked.

"I think I was around seventeen when it came out."

"Oh… I was seven…" Darcy said quietly, suddenly feeling very young compared to him, not just because of her age, but her tastes in movies as well. Darcy's nose crinkled up. "This isn't really helping, is it?" She asked, referring to her lame attempt to flirt with him. Wait, what? She was trying to flirt with him?! When did her mind make that decision without her?

Loki surprised her by giving a warm, hearty laugh that seemed to make the room more comfortable. She gave him a dazed smile, no longer feeling quite as foolish as she did before. "Quite the opposite. I rather enjoy listening to you tell me all about your favorite childhood films, although I think Bruce will be disappointed that your time with him has yet to help you overcome your apparent fixation." Darcy couldn't stop the blush that crept up her face. Was he teasing her? Like, for real? This Loki was charming and funny; she didn't know what to make of that.

"That's… that's not why I'm here." Darcy admitted. "I'm actually quite content with my obsession, thank you very much." Loki's eyes narrowed but the smile on his lips never faltered.

"I see." There was something almost fascinating about how his mouth moved as he spoke those words. It made Darcy want him to repeat them so she could watch it again. Unfortunately, fate didn't seem to want to help her little curiosity as a door clicked open and someone spoke behind her.

"Mr. Odinson?" Darcy heard Bruce call from the other side of the room. Loki sighed and looked down at Darcy again, he leaned down, his lips close to her ear, his breath brushing her hair and tickling her flushed cheek.

"I'll see you in an hour; the coffee shop is at the end of this block, turn right, it's called Valhalla of Coffee." His lips gave a light touch on her cheek. "I look forward to it."

With that, Loki smoothly stood up and gathered his discarded jacket from the couch and followed Bruce into the same room she was in just moments ago.

She slowly sank onto a chair, her bag falling to the floor as her hand fluttered up to her cheek and brushed over where his lips had met. Her skin was warm, although she didn't know if that was from his brief contact of the blush that was already there. She didn't know. She didn't know what to make of that whole encounter. He was so… so normal… More than normal, he was charismatic, polite and incredibly easy to talk to! And she found him attractive.

Shit.

Darcy grabbed her phone to check the time so she wouldn't be late in an hour's time. She was having coffee with Loki! This could only end badly. She ran a hand through her hair and rested her elbows on the clip board that was now placed on her lap.

Shit, shit.

"Are you okay, Dr. Lewis?" Jennifer asked kindly from across the waiting area.

Darcy swallowed the lump of nerves in her throat and found she could actually breathe again. "Yep, just trying to figure some stuff out."

"Okay, I hope you get it all sorted." The young woman said with a friendly smile.

Darcy quickly scanned the forms she needed to fill in and hurriedly put her details in, or at least the details she could find on her own phone or driver's licence, the rest she just sort of made up and hoped it didn't seem too noticeable. She handed the forms back ten minutes later and headed towards the coffee shop Loki suggested.

She spun on her heel three times on her way down the street. Each time questioning if this was a good idea for various reasons.

He's this version of this Darcy's boss.

He could have answers.

He could know everything and want to take her out of the picture before she ruined his evil, diabolical plan! Her mind countered.

But he seemed to be as clueless as everyone else, sure he was a bit of an ass in that meeting but that didn't mean he _wasn't_ under this spell as well. He could just be an ass…

But how would going for coffee with him if he's under the spell help her break it?

How would it hurt? She finally decided just as she spotted the shop at the end of the street.

She opened the door and ordered a hot chocolate before easily finding a table for two in the corner. She faced the queue and the TV screen above the counter. After a few moments of reading the headlines she decided to pull out the copy of Forbes she bought earlier. She needed to know more about both companies she worked for, and this article seemed like a good place to start.

"I wonder if he'll mention the health care system again." She overheard a woman at the table next to her say. Her ears perked up and she leaned towards their conversation, remembering the President's speech he was going to make this morning. Darcy's eyes flickered over to the TV screen where they were just going live to Washington.

Darcy instantly stood up when she saw him. Phil Coulson. He was the President! "Thank you! Thank you." Darcy moved closer to the big television, her hot chocolate abandoned on the table. "My fellow Americans, yesterday I was reminded how lucky I really am, I would like to take a moment and thank this woman. Darcy, Darcy Lewis?" Darcy gasped, looking around the café to see if anyone else was finding this as strange as she was. She found herself nodding at the screen, praying Coulson was really talking to her. "Darcy. This is all wrong. You have to stop this illusion. Only you know how wrong this world is. Only you can fix it."

"How?" Her voice barely a whisper over the noises of people in the coffee shop.

"It's not easy." President Coulson continued and Darcy held her breath, waiting for more. "She is powerful, but she underestimated _your _power." Darcy's forehead crinkled up, but she kept nodding at his words, thankful she wasn't just imagining things as she stared intently at the TV, relief washing over her. Finally, she had some kind of proof! She felt like crying out that everything was going to be okay because Phil said so. Phil was always right, she knew that.

Someone bumped into her side, narrowly missing spilling their hot coffee over her blouse, he apologized but when Darcy assured him it was okay and went back to watching the screen, Phil had gone. She watched as Obama, the President that she was used to, started to talk about the healthcare benefits of his proposal. Darcy felt her heart sink. Was that a hallucination? Everyone else in the café seemed unaffected by the weirdness that just happened. No. What Phil had said made sense, Darcy was the only person who knew how wrong this world was, and there was no point in trying to fight it, she needed to fix this on her own.

She replayed Phil's words over and over again in her head. She? He mentioned a "she"!

"She is powerful." Darcy repeated out loud. Who was she?

She gasped out loud, covering her mouth with her hand when a few people looked over at her in surprise. That meant it couldn't be Loki that planned all this, last time Darcy checked in those files S.H.I.E.L.D gave her, they certainly listed him as 'male' and it was easy to see just looking at him that he was most definitely _not_ a woman. So that meant Loki was… innocent? The words certainly felt wrong in her head. Any time anyone described Loki, even Thor, no one ever referred to him as 'innocent', in fact it was quite the opposite. But, Loki was innocent, and she had a date with him!

Fuck!

Darcy rushed back to her table and shoved the magazine back in her handbag, not caring about her drink as she panicked and turned to the entrance, ready to escape before she did something incredibly stupid and like have coffee with a mental case that once tried to take over the world. She took one step towards her escape and bumped into someone else.

"Going somewhere?"

This just really wasn't her day.

Xxxxxx

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Ta-Da! More Loki/Darcy stuff that I hoped you enjoyed and the mystery thickens! I hope you liked reading it and thanks for sticking with this crazy AU/Not actually an AU fic lol.

Reviews are really appreciated.

Thanks again for reading and I'd love to know what you all think of the plot/characterization, especially Loki as it is so hard to write him true to character yet not… because this isn't the real Loki…

Until next time... The next chapter should be up around next Tuesday night/Wednesday, maybe a bit earlier if I get lots of lovely encourgement... hint...

Charlie


	4. Chapter 4

Suspend My Disbelief

Xxxxxx

* * *

I would like to dedicate this chapter to Sandra. Once again, life if getting crazy busy but you never give up on me, so thank you.

Sorry everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I haven't had time to PM you all but I thought you'd appreciate a new chapter than a little message from me. So enjoy! And don't forget to tell me what you think! I love reading the review so much!

Xxxxxx

* * *

Chapter 4

"Going somewhere?"

Her blood felt like it turned to ice in her veins. She lifted her head, her eyes following the buttons of his shirt until she reached a small V shape opening in the fabric and was so close she could see chest hair.

Fuck, so much for her sly escape.

"Loki." She said, exhaling as she finally met his eyes. "I was just-"

"Leaving?" His green eyes gave her a pointed look that made her back down and perch on the edge of her seat.

"Yeah…" She admitted, looking down at her half empty and now cold hot chocolate.

Loki gave a sigh and nodded to himself. "I thought so. Is it the fact I'm in therapy?" He sat on the opposite chair, and Darcy scolded herself for sitting, it would make it ten times harder to leave now. Especially with him looking so wounded. How was it that he went from crazy controlling and confident business man to self-conscious and ashamed in a heartbeat? Oh, because he was embarrassed about his problems, Darcy reminded herself. Was this what Loki in her reality was like as well? After all he was haunted by problems, only his reaction was to destroy planets not join therapy...

"No. That would make me a hypocrite, after all I wasn't at Dr Banner's because of the awesome magazine selection they have." She said with a weak smile and hoped it helped.

Loki looked down at the table and smiled, giving a small laugh as he looked up through his eyelashes at her. "I suppose not." He agreed. "Would you like another drink?"

Darcy looked down at her hot chocolate, still half full and now cold in front of her. "That would be nice. Thank you." Loki motioned for a waitress and Darcy was surprised to see one rush over, she didn't realize they did table service.

"Hey, Mr Odinson, would you like the usual?" The red headed girl with short spiky hair greeted with a warm smile. Her white t-shirt was smudged with ground coffee beans and Darcy wondered how old she must have been, eighteen? Maybe even younger.

"That would be perfect, Darcy, would you like another hot chocolate?" He turned to look at her and Darcy just nodded, shocked that Loki was on such good terms with a waitress in this small café. She hadn't been at all intimidated or star struck when she came over to serve.

"Do you come here often?" She asked, curiously.

Loki laid a hand on the table's surface and tapped his thumb a few times before answering. Was he nervous? "Yes. I live one block over. I prefer places like this over chains, although they are much harder to come by." He replied, his charming smile back in place and any sign of his self-esteem issues had vanished.

Darcy's mind was still reeling from Phil's message. For some reason, it only made her more confident in herself after hearing a strange message from a man who was dead through a television screen. But Darcy tried not to think too much about that as she focused on the man in front of her who was no longer a suspect in her rather pathetic attempt of an investigation.

"I didn't think people actually lived in the center of Manhattan. That must cost a fortune." Darcy thought out loud, her mouth scrunching up to the side as she considered just how much money it must cost. "But I totally agree. I prefer places with atmosphere."

"That's funny, being an astrophysicist, of course you'd like atmosphere." Loki's thumb was tapping again and Darcy found it oddly fascinating to watch his long pale fingers extended on the smooth dark surface.

It took a moment for the joke to click in Darcy's brain, but that didn't stop her from throwing her head back and giving a huge laugh at it. "That's hilarious!" She told him after she'd calmed down; although from her over the top reaction, he could probably tell how amusing she found his comment. "I will have to tell Jane that one."

Their drinks came a second later, and Loki politely thanked the young girl before continuing their conversation.

"I thought you'd have heard that at least once before." Loki admitted as he blew into the coffee mug, it was very milky and Darcy watched with fascination as he put copious amounts of sugar in the mug and stirred. She never would have taken him for a sweet toothed kind of guy.

"No, never. Which is rather weird." Darcy had to remind herself that she needed to keep up the charade of being a doctor while around people who knew her. "So, did you ask me for coffee in a public place so you can fire me without me making a scene?" Darcy asked, a smirk on her lips as she sipped her drink.

Loki laughed to himself. "No, quite the opposite. I had no plans to ask you out today until I saw you in Banner's office." He lifted his gaze from her hands that were wrapped around her mug and caught her eyes. "Then I couldn't stop myself." She felt a shiver creep up her spine and had to use all her self-control not to spill her drink as she took a delicate sip. Fuck. He was hot. Hot and intense. Which was like crack to her. Damn Pride and Prejudice for making her have a Mr Darcy obsession and Loki here was like a reincarnated version of him!

"Rather unprofessional, isn't it?" Darcy gulped before teasing him and Loki's gaze dropped once again. "Not that I mind!" Darcy tried to back pedal. Damn, why did she have to open her big mouth and make him feel inadequate?

"If you only said yes because of work obligations, then I understand, but I wish to get to know you outside of our professions." Loki's thumb tapping was back and Darcy reached out to grab his hand in hers to stop it before the drumming drove her insane.

"I would like to get to know you too, Loki." Darcy felt like a teenager who couldn't stop smiling at her first crush. This was Loki! Her mind screamed, and yet her face was warm and her stomach flip-flopped at the feel of his hand in hers. It was rough, surprisingly calloused considering he worked mainly behind a computer and spent most of his time in meetings, but it was warm to touch, and as his palm turned over and his fingers tightened around hers, she couldn't stop the mega-watt smile that plastered itself on her face.

"I'm glad to hear it." Loki refused to let go of her hand as he used his free one to take a long sip of his drink. "So tell me, Darcy, have you ever been to Disney World?"

Her eyes brightened and burst out laughing at his random question.

"Um…" Her forehead wrinkled as she shook her head. "No actually. I erm… I grew up in a foster home from the age of four; don't get me wrong, it was a great place!" She said quickly, holding up her spare hand as that familiar look of sympathy began to appear on Loki's features. She hated the pity look people gave her when she mentioned the orphanage. "I loved the people that worked there, and the other kids were nowhere near as bad as some horror stories you hear. But it just meant no trips to Disney World or anything."

"So you were adopted?" His grip on her hand flexed as he asked. He was obviously surprised and interested to hear her history.

"Nope. I was too old, most people want brand new babies, like a fresh start or something and there's too much baggage that comes with a girl whose mom died but no one knew who the dad was, something about the dad still having a legal claim if he ever decided to come looking for me. Some really nice couples and families were interested, I mean, who could resist this smile?" Darcy joked but coughed awkwardly before continuing. "But as soon as they heard that my father could still turn up and legitimately take me away from them… It turned a lot of people away… Actually it turned everyone away." Darcy recalled with a sad smile. She took another sip of her hot chocolate, glad that drinking the liquid meant tears wouldn't form in her eyes. "Why am I telling you this? God, I must be scaring you away as well!" Darcy's nervous laugh hopefully drowned out the sorrow at the still sad memories. Why did she have to open her big mouth and give so much away? Sometimes she really hated being so open with people.

"So you never knew your parents?" Loki's question was sincere, but she suddenly remembered his situation and felt immediately silly.

"No. Well, I knew my mom from stories and the local paper wrote a really nice article after she died where it quoted loads of her neighbours and stuff." Darcy kept quiet about how none of those neighbours really knew her mom, a single parent working two jobs just to support her and her daughter, and when asked by the authorities if they could help foster Darcy, they all said no straight away. She shouldn't be bitter, those people had lives and didn't need the unexpected and unwanted orphan girl next door as their responsibly, using their hard earned money to look after her... no Darcy didn't feel anger to them, it was understandable and she didn't have a bad life because of their rejection or anything. "My dad, I didn't know. She knew apparently, not that it mattered."

"I can't believe you went through all of that. You're… You're so positive and outgoing and wow… I had no idea." Loki finally spoke; he was staring at her like she was some kind of hero, a look of awe and admiration that Darcy was beginning to find a pattern in this reality. It was weird. She broke her hand out of his as is he burnt her and tucked it safely on her lap.

"Yeah. It was nothing. I didn't know any different." Darcy felt her shoulders tense as she got uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her. "What about you? What are your parents like?" Darcy instantly cringed and held up her hands to cover her mouth. "Oh my God! I'm sorry. I knew you were adopted as well, you told me like an hour ago. Fuck. I'm sorry, that was a stupid question. Can you just pretend I didn't say that?" Darcy panicked. Way to piss off a God who was now a famous billionaire, Darcy thought bitterly to herself. If there was an Olympic sport in saying stupid things around Gods then she would win Gold.

"No, it's fine." Loki tried to calm her down with a soft smile and a chuckle at her deer-in-headlights expression. "Really, I don't mind. My parents, Odin and Frigga, my adoptive parents." Loki clarified before continuing. "They are amazing. Both living in Hawaii, enjoying a well-deserved retirement. They were the best a boy could ask for. I wanted for nothing but had to earn it, oh, there were no free rides in the Odinson household." Loki gave a wistful smile at a memory.

"Your dad's name is Odin Odinson?" Darcy asked, an eyebrow rising at how weird that sounded.

"It's not uncommon, I know a Ben Benson, a Steve Stephenson-" Loki started before being interrupted.

"I went to school with a Mike Michaelson." Alright, it didn't seem so weird now that she thought about it.

"See. It's actually an Icelandic tradition. My father is Icelandic, and you take the first name of the father and that becomes the last name of the sons or daughters. My father's father's father, my great grandfather was called Jon Olafurson, then his son, my grandfather, was Odin Jonson, his son, my father was named Odin after him so it became Odin Odinson and myself and Thor take our fathers first name, add son and still get Odinson." Loki explained, using his finger on the table to draw an invisible diagram of his family tree so she could understand it easier. Instead she just got distracted by his long fingers, hypnotised with how gracefully yet firmly they moved.

Darcy nodded. "So if we have kids, they would be Luke Lokison." Darcy said proudly, happy that she finally understood the origin of Thor and Loki's surname. She beamed as she met Loki's green eyes and immediately couldn't breathe. She just mentioned her and Loki having kids! That was vastly inappropriate and weird! Darcy yelled at herself internally. She watched as his eyes darkened as his gaze slipped down to her lips which were slightly parted in shock at her own mistake. To have babies it meant you had to… Oh God! Darcy felt her face flush again and started speaking. "Or if Jane and Thor had a baby it would be Leia Thorson." She managed to say without implying anything else between them.

"Sort of, if it's a daughter than it's dottir. Thordottir." Loki replied, his voice a lot lower than before, his face closer to hers after she had leaned in to look at his invisible diagram.

"So the brother and sister would have different surnames?" Darcy said, crinkling up her nose at the idea. Her gaze betrayed her as it dropped to his lips but instantly gasped; she wide eyes returning back to his.

Loki let out another chuckle that she was beginning to find very attractive from him, he put space between them again by sitting back in his chair. "It's a tradition that I won't be continuing. It worked for my great grandfather but it doesn't make sense now-a-days." Loki told her resolutely.

"Oh. That's a shame. It's cool that your family has such unusual history." Darcy said sadly, she had no family history or traditions. Only that jewellery box and the necklace, she guessed. She caught the pendant hanging around her neck in her palm and felt its warmth.

"So Luke and Leia?" Loki asked with a smirk.

Darcy shrugged. "I didn't get into astrophysics for no reason." She lied. "I loved Star Wars, still do. Only the old ones, the new ones are terrible, the only good thing about them is Natalie Portman." Darcy finished, saying the actresses name at the same time Loki did. She halted and gave him a bizarre look to which he shrugged.

"Thor says exactly the same thing. He loves Natalie Portman." Darcy's mouth formed a little 'o' and she nodded, no longer worried Loki was secretly comparing her to Padme Amidala. He picked up his coffee and took another long sip, and Darcy was beginning to wonder what those lips tasted like. She shook her head and took a gulp of her drink instead. What was going on with her hormones? She was thinking like a horny teenager all of a sudden and it wasn't helping her in this situation at all! She already had enough trouble with speaking her mind too freely; she dreaded to think what might slip out if she kept thinking about Loki like a sex object. Fuck! Now he was a sex object? She was so screwed. "So, how did you know about Thor's crush on Jane?" Loki asked, referring to her using their fictional child as a reference earlier.

"It's pretty obvious, well, to everyone but themselves." Darcy said, glad to be talking about something other than herself or Loki's ability to father children. "I'm glad they hit it off at the meeting yesterday, I think they'd be good together." Darcy said, hoping she didn't sound too dreamy at the idea of them being a happy couple, which was the norm for her, so being in a world where they weren't together was just another strange thing.

"If she isn't influenced by his position." Loki said offhandedly.

Darcy tilted her head at him, curiously. "What do you mean?" She didn't like his tone or where this was heading.

Loki smirked and set his mug back on the table. "I mean, he's a well-established wealthy business man, it often comes with certain types of woman chasing him."

"And you think Jane is one of them?"

"No, not at all, but you must admit the money, the security, it is tempting." He tapped the rim of his mug with his fingertips casually.

"Is that why you think I'm here with you now?" Darcy asked, crossing her arms over her chest defensively as she spoke.

"No, this is different."

"Because it's you?" She asked bluntly.

"Fuck, no. Darcy, I think I phrased that wrong." Loki ran a hand over his hair again, one of the two nervous habits he has, Darcy noted to herself.

"Okay, well feel free to start again." Darcy challenged him.

"Thor is the golden child. He's the oldest, he's the handsome one, he's number one on the 'Eligible Bachelor' list; that means he usually attracts one kind of woman."

"Gold diggers?" Darcy easily guessed.

"Exactly, I'm not saying Jane is that, not at all. But it means she'll have to deal with a lot of those types of woman if she wishes to date my brother." Loki explained, a lot better that time around in Darcy's opinion. She uncrossed her arms and let them fall back into her lap.

"Oh… She'll be okay. She's smart. And I've been on the receiving end of her when I took the last Pop-Tart once, and that was scary enough to make even the biggest gold digger back down." Darcy assured him and laughed at the memory. "Anyway, last time I checked, Thor hadn't even spoken to Jane outside of that meeting room, why are you so concerned? He might never ask her out, she might not say yes." Darcy pointed out.

"True, but my brother always gets what he wants, and isn't afraid to fight for it. An Odinson trait." Loki countered. "So what about you?" Loki asked after a pause in the conversation.

"What about me, what?" Darcy asked so quickly that Loki almost didn't understand what she said.

"I know I'm not the same package my brother has to offer, Lord knows you don't have to worry about crazy stalkers or gold diggers with me, but would you be interested in going… I mean, do you-" Loki struggled to find the right word, which was weird considering he was just rambling at her a second ago.

"Do you want to go out to dinner sometime?" She helped him out. Loki looked relieved, a huge smile breaking on his face as he caught her in his gaze once again.

"Exactly." Shit, did she just ask him out?

"Er…" Shit shit! She needed to think fast, she had to back track and explain that she was only finishing his awkward sentence, not actually agreeing to a date or anything. Shit shit shit! "I would love that." Darcy agreed, eyes wide in surprise at her own words. Where had that come from? Why was it so easy to say yes to him?

"Fantastic. I- I'm free tomorrow." He glanced down at his watch and panicked as he saw the time. "I have a meeting soon so need to head back to work, would you like a lift?" Loki said, apologetically.

"No, it's fine. I have nothing else to do; so I can walk." Darcy began, but Loki had already picked up her heavy handbag from the floor and helped her out of her seat.

"I insist." His green eyes sparkled and looked so bright in their dim corner of the coffee shop that she couldn't resist.

"Okay."

He led her out the door, waving goodbye to the staff as he did so and there was a town car already pulled up a little way down the street. Loki waved to get the driver's attention, who immediately started the engine and drove closer to them.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be late, because you gave me a ride home." Darcy said, suddenly guilty that she might be putting him out of his way, but also really excited because she'd never been in a town car before and someone once told her they had mini TV's in the back of the chairs and always had a tiny champagne bars hidden under a seat, she just had to find it!

"Darcy, it would be my pleasure." Darcy blamed the cool New York breeze for the shiver that ran down her spine after he said that last word. Yep, definitely the cold wind and not the way his mouth looked or voice sounded as he spoke.

Fuck. She was in trouble.

"Fuck balls, these seats are amazing!" She exclaimed as she slid into the car, her hands still rubbing the super soft leather as Loki sat down. "What is this made of? New born baby cow skin? Seriously, this is the softest leather I've ever touched!" She was tempted to rub her face on it, which she managed to keep to herself. Loki's chuckle brought her out of her mental joy at the softness of these chairs. "Sorry." She said bashfully.

"It's quite alright. Thor had a very similar reaction when he first got inside. I believe he even rubbed his face on them at one point." Darcy smiled but kept the fact she wanted to do the exact same thing to herself.

"Where to, Mr Odinson?" The driver called from over his shoulder, and Darcy had to suppress a yelp when she noticed it was Hogan. She'd only met him briefly; in New Mexico when that giant metal fire breathing robot was trying to kill them all, the people who save you from that burning death sure do stay in your head.

"Hello." She greeted him with a bright smile that he either ignored or didn't know how to react to; so his face remained neutral, well, the angry serious side of neutral. Loki turned to Darcy, and she had to flip through her phone to find the address, she felt silly for not knowing it off by heart yet but it had only been one day! She told Hogan and sheepishly explained her need to remind herself. "I just moved." She hoped he believed her, after all, why wouldn't he?

"Fast as you can, Hogan, please." Loki called friendly over to him.

Darcy didn't know why but she soon found herself going through traffic just off Times Square, even she knew this was a long way to get to her place and had a feeling Loki might had something to do with that. She was about to question it when she noticed a giant bill board with a huge face she recognized.

"Oh my God, who is that?" She patted Loki's arm to get his attention and pointed at the advert with Steve Rogers' face on it, right in the middle of Times Freakin' Square.

"I knew you science types don't get out much." Loki laughed to himself before answering. "That's Steve Rogers; he's one of the world's most well-known American Soldier."

"Why?" Darcy lost sight of the billboard as they went past that street, and she turned back to Loki and found he looking at her with a rather bemused expression on her face, she guessed it was because of her complete cluelessness on things like his adoption or Steve Rogers, all American hero. She sighed, she knew all about them, but not here. She wished she could explain that she wasn't some recluse that only works and sleeps, that this was all some spell, and they were in fact the ones who were all wrong, but she figured being seen as an oblivious hermit was the better of the two options.

"He saved a lot of lives, there was a battle and he bravely rescued several prisoners of war, Tony Stark most famously. He got a lot of good people out from behind enemy lines. Reunited a lot of families." Loki explained, simply. Darcy nodded, that was very Steve like. No wonder they were celebrating him, even in this reality, he was still an all American hero.

"Wow. That's amazing." Darcy breathed, partly in joy that he was so well recognized here, but mainly with relief that she had found another member of the team.

"Yeah, he's doing a huge book tour. War propaganda if you ask me, it's encouraging lots of young people to enlist when they have so many better options out there for them." Darcy gave him a quick look, angling her body so it faced his more. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for defending your country."

"You just think it's not the best life out there for them?" Darcy finished.

"Exactly." Loki agreed with a smile. Darcy suddenly felt very close to him. She pushed herself back in her seat to get more space between them in the small backseat area of the car and looked around suddenly.

"So are there any cool secret compartments in this thing?" She asked randomly, ignoring the way Loki's gaze seemed to burn into the side of her face.

"I'm afraid not, unless you count the iPhone charger I keep under the seat." Loki replied. Darcy instantly leaned over and searched for it.

"Aw man. I wish I still had an iPhone. Don't get me wrong, Stark's phones are good, but they don't sync up to my playlists." Darcy moaned, she suddenly sat up straight. "I mean, don't tell Tony Stark I said that. I have a feeling it wouldn't be a very good start to insult his products in front of him." Darcy tried to cover herself.

"Ah, yes. And you are very concerned about first impressions, if I'm not mistaken weren't your first words to me "Holy Fuck" then you preceded to threaten me in the men's room if I didn't agree to this merger?"

"I didn't-" Darcy had to stop herself very quickly, she was about to admit that she wasn't threatening him about the merger but about the spell she was convinced he had everyone under, only now she knew that wasn't the case. "I didn't mean to be like that. I'm so sorry about that whole meeting, I was under a lot of stress, then you started saying all those negative things, and I was convinced you'd say no, and Jane would cry. Have you even tried to deal with a crying Jane? It's like telling Bambi its mom died." She lied, well, not about the Bambi/Jane thing, that was true.

"So threatening me was the easier option of the two for you?" Loki asked, his jaw slack at her implication, somewhere between amused and stunned.

"Well… Yeah." Darcy answered simply.

Loki threw his head back and laughed, Darcy couldn't stop her eyes from trailing down his pale neck, wanting to press her lips against the skin as it shifted and flexed as he laughed. Stop it! She yelled at herself. Darcy had a well-known impulse control problem, but this was Loki! It didn't matter that he was a completely different version of Loki who didn't seem to have an evil bone in his body and was normal and totally fit. She would not think of her lips on his neck. Or his lips on her neck. Or their lips together. Fuck! Darcy had to tear her gaze away from him and focus on her phone before she gave into temptation like she had so many times before and regretted it. She saw she had three missed calls from Jake, which she found weird considering his last text said he was going to leave her alone, but she ignored them, turning her phone on loud like she'd forgotten to do after leaving Bruce's office.

"You really are something else, Dr. Darcy Lewis." Loki finally said.

"Thanks?" She said, hesitantly. She had been told that before, for both good and bad reasons.

"Oh, I meant it in a wholly good way." Loki said, his voice deep as he leaned across the space she tried to create between them, his hand finding her jaw and cradling it in his palm, guiding her face to meet his.

It was so quick that Darcy almost didn't have time to react. She gasped, his lips descending closer to hers and pulled her head out of his grasp and pressed her body as close to the door and as far away from him as possible, feeling like a scared rabbit running away from a fox. Her eyes instantly darted to the floor, not willing to look up and see that rejected or angered look that was probably written all over Loki's face. She knew he wasn't evil here, but he was still powerful and dangerous. That and she knew the wounded puppy look thing made her heart break and her body do stupid girly things.

"I'm sorry." She muttered quietly. "I can't." She both thanked and cursed her sudden ability to control her impulses.

She heard his sigh and shift on the leather chairs, slowly she turned to see him leaning back, his hands covering his reclined head, his long legs stretched out in front of him, almost reaching the other side of the back seating area. "No, it's not your fault. I'm sorry. That was incredibly unprofessional. I deeply regret misreading this, Dr. Lewis and for that, I must apologize profusely." He was saying too many big words, her head was spinning already.

Darcy moved an inch away from the door and tried to relax on the seats again, failing completely, but she spoke softly as she tried to fix whatever damage this had caused. "No, you weren't misreading anything. I like you, Loki. I wouldn't have said yes to dinner tomorrow if I didn't, but I can't do this right now, okay?" She knew that sounded lame. "I promise, you will understand. I want to kiss you. Fuck, I want to say screw it and jump you right now, but you'll understand why that isn't possible once..." She wanted to clarify, tell him that this wasn't _him _and he certainly wouldn't try or even want to kiss her if he was his usual self, but she couldn't. "Okay?" She hoped that explained things a bit better but knew it didn't, she was vague and cryptic, two things that didn't help when explaining something.

"Yes, of course. I'm usually much more... cautious when it comes to relationships. I'm never this open with people; I don't even talk this freely with my brother. But you, Darcy Lewis, for some reason… I trust you. I've seen you around at work, people feel happy and safe with you, and I didn't believe it at first, but now that I've met you… I just feel such a connection to you. I feel like you won't betray me like others have." Darcy closed her eyes tightly so she didn't have to see the haunted look in his eye and let the guilt flood her. He'd been hurt badly before and not just by women. "I promised myself I wouldn't do this, I pride myself on my self-control and ability to keep things strictly profession but you… you just bewitch me." Loki admitted and Darcy knew how hard that must have been to do. This was an insecure man, with a self-critical nature that didn't believe anyone would like him, because he believed his brother to be so much better. He was living in Thor's shadow his whole life, and then to find out he was adopted… it must have only cemented the belief that he wasn't good enough. Add that to the betrayal that comes from living a lie; Darcy had a hard time believing Loki could ever trust again, and yet here he was, trusting her when he really shouldn't be, because she wasn't the same person he had seen from a distance all those times. She was a lie that she didn't want him to suffer the discovery of. He had already suffered so much…

Darcy sighed as she reached over and wrapped her arms around his chest and torso. His arms shifted from covering his face; so he could gaze down at the woman who was hugging him, her cheek pressed firmly into his shirt and slowly, timidly, his arms curled around her body and pulled her in closer.

Darcy wondered how long it had been since he's last been hugged and frowned, knowing it mustn't have been recently. She tried not to think about the feel of his arms wrapped around her or the way his hands felt as they rubbed her back and arms. She ignored the shiver that ran up her spine as she heard Loki take a deep breath in of her hair, only smiling to herself as she gave some small comfort to a man who was in great need of it. This wasn't her leading him on, no, this was giving him the much needed human contact and acceptance that he craved so much but never dared ask for.

The car slowed and stopped a few minutes later, telling them that they were at her home already. Loki's hands slowly eased their grip and Darcy moved away, brushing her hair out of her face as she reached down to the floor and picked up her handbag.

"Thank you. For the ride." She clarified. "And the hot chocolate, now that I think about it." Darcy smiled at him and was glad to see him returning the grin, albeit a bit sadder than she hoped.

"That's more than alright, here, let me." He said, offering to take her bag before she could refuse.

"So, dinner tomorrow?" She asked, hesitantly, not sure if he'd still be up for it after her epic kiss rejection a few moments ago.

"Yes, I have your cell number and email at work. I will write you the place and time. Is that still alright?" He confirmed and Darcy was glad he didn't feel wounded enough to cancel on her. Maybe he just wouldn't text and pretend today never happened, that would be the nicer thing to do, she mused.

"That sounds perfect." She beamed back at him.

As they both got out of the car, Darcy's eyes widened and her stomach dropped as she saw someone she hoped she wouldn't have to meet again waiting at the bottom of her apartment buildings steps.

"Darcy?" He called.

Darcy winced. She'd really hoped _he _wouldn't be here, this was the last thing she was prepared to deal with. She whipped around to see Loki walking around the town car, her handbag under one arm, a pleased and happy grin on his lips that made him look five years younger than the Loki she met yesterday.

"Jake!" She called out, praying this wouldn't end as badly as she was currently imagining in her head. "What are you doing here?" She hissed.

Fuck. This felt like one of those awful rom-com's she was secretly addicted to, catch between two men, worried what one would say to the other. Fuck fuck! her mind reeled as she watched in horror as Jake stood up from his perch on the steps when he saw Darcy approach and walk towards her, arms extended.

"Darcy, I came back. You had me so worried, you weren't answering any of my texts or calls." Darcy immediately tensed when he pulled her into a hug, her arms ramrod straight by her side as Jake stroked her hair.

"Darcy?" She closed her eyes and pushed Jake away as she heard Loki speak.

"Jake, this is Loki; he's one of my many bosses. Loki, this is Jake, he's…" Darcy really couldn't think of anything to call Jake. A friend? A bit of a jerk? No, that was unfair to him; he wasn't that much of a douche. Unfortunately, Jake must have had the habit of finishing other peoples' sentences because he held his hand out towards Loki and said the one word Darcy was praying he wouldn't.

"Her boyfriend. I'm Darcy's boyfriend. Pleased to meet you." Darcy closed her eyes in shame, not wanting to see Loki's expression but she couldn't help it, opening her eyes she watched as recognition washed over his face, followed by a flash of betrayal as he looked between her and Jake, then he nodded, acceptance finally settling on his features as he reached out and shook Jake's hand in a completely gentlemanly and unnecessary way that only made her feel more guilty. He must have taken her words from before and assumed this was her reason for not wanting to kiss him. Now she wished she'd told him the truth before, sure, he'd think she was crazy but that actually seemed like the better option when faced with a unknown boyfriend.

"Nice to meet you." Loki said with a smile that pained Darcy to see. Loki had just admitted that he rarely opened up to people, rarely trusted people. And here she was, almost instantly taking his trust and proving it wrong. "Have a good day, Dr. Lewis." Loki took a step away from them only to pause and turn back, his finger on his lips as if considering something. "I recall having other plans for tomorrow evening, I am sorry to have troubled you."

"Wait!" Darcy called out before she could stop. She reached out to grab his forearm, he began to pull it away from her grasp but she just caught his hand instead. "Loki, it's not-"

"No, I suppose it never is what it looks like." Loki took the words right out of her mouth, leaving her with nothing but regret.

"Please-"She started but Jake interrupted again.

"Er… Sorry, but I just wanted to say thanks for looking after Darce, I'm sure you know she's been having some mental issues lately, and Jane told me she managed to get some time off for the ol' girl here, as her boss, I'm assuming you arranged that. So thanks." Jake said, good-naturedly, but it only caused Darcy to cringe, and Loki to stare at the shorter man as he announced his girlfriend's "mental issues".

"Jake, stop-" Darcy started, mortified and wishing she could just tell him to shut the fuck up and get out of her life, but she couldn't in front of Loki, that would only prove she was the exact type of person he couldn't trust, and she wanted him to truth her so badly it hurt.

"No, I mean, with her mother's mental history, I worried Darcy might break down one day-" Jake spoke as if she wasn't there, as if this was something to joke about and Darcy wanted to just run into her foreign apartment building and lock herself in it until she died or this all fixed itself.

"Jake, was it?" It was Loki's turn to interject. Jake nodded in response, a dumb smile on his face. "Dr. Lewis has no "mental issues" as far as I am concerned and from the way you are obviously making her feel, I assume she doesn't appreciate you saying such things in front of her boss." Jake's face fell, and Darcy took some joy in watching him fluster.

"I- I… I didn't-" Jake stammered.

"Didn't what? Think? Didn't realize that Darcy may want to keep such things secret from her boss? Or that she may just be uncomfortable talking about it? Did you not consider that I may be having some "mental issues" of my own, and she wanted to spare my discomfort by not bring the issue up at all? Or did you think it appropriate to bring up her mother's history, something very personal to Dr. Lewis I assume, to someone you only just met?" Loki's face had turned into a sneer that made it easy for Darcy to see the same man who tried to take over the world.

"I- I…" Jake continued to struggle to justify his actions.

"Dr. Lewis, I was mistaken. My plan is for the following week, not tomorrow, I shall inform you of the event tomorrow evening once I have arranged things properly. I trust you are still available?" Loki turned to Darcy, who was dumbstruck, nodding at him. He smiled warmly and bent over to give her a kiss on the cheek like earlier. "Are you okay if I leave? I can stay..." He whispered into the shell of her ear, his lips brushing her flesh as he spoke. His body pressed against her firmly. She didn't want him to go, but she dreaded the conversation that followed if he stayed.

"Go. I'm fine." She said back hushed, stepping back from him with a smile and the ghost warmth of his body left. "Thank you, Mr. Odinson. I know you have a meeting to get to, I will see you tomorrow." She said calmly, trying to sound professional yet convey just how important Loki was to her right now. He was the only person outside of work and faked mental illness that she could speak to, even if he was the boss of the company she worked for.

"Very well. Good day, Jake. I hope I never have the displeasure of meeting you again." Loki said finally and headed back to the car.

Darcy didn't wait for the town car's door to close before walking away from Jake.

"Darcy, wait!" Jake called out behind her after he's recovered from his shock and realized she had walked away.

"Fuck off Jake. You ever think the reason I didn't respond to your texts or calls was because I didn't want to see you?!" She screamed. Darcy had never yelled at another human being before. Sure, she'd shouted at the TV or her laptop when they wouldn't work. Or screamed at herself after burning her hand while cooking something in the oven then touching it. Hell, she'd even yelled at the sky when Jane was having a particularly bad day and missed Thor who had yet to return to Asgard after he promised he'd come back the first time. But there was never a person standing in front of her, but she was just so full of rage that she had to let her "Inner-Hulk" out. "Do you know who that was? That was Loki ODINSON! He owns the fucking company I work for, and you tell him about all the problems I've been having! God! Are you fucking stupid?! The only problem I have right now is you! So get away. Go away. I can't even look at you, I'm so embarrassed!" Her throat already felt sore from the yelling, but she didn't want to stop. She wanted to feel bad for Jake, that he was only being nice and thanking someone on behalf of his girlfriend, but he had no right to interfere in her life like that! Spilling obviously personal details to a stranger and thinking it was all alright.

"Darcy, I-" Jake attempted to give her a puppy dog look that she guessed worked on the Darcy from this reality, but not on her, not when it was _him_. No, this Darcy Lewis had a hell of a lot more important things to deal with than Jake Whatever-the-fuck-his-last-name-is!

"I said GO!" Darcy screamed, opening the front door finally and was about to slam it when she heard someone next door yell.

"You heard her, piss off!" Darcy looked over and up a few floors to see an elderly woman holding a cat, her head poking out her window and giving Jake the best death glare Darcy had ever seen.

"Thank you!" Darcy stood at the top of the steps, the old woman helping prove her point and gave him the finger while sticking her tongue out before slamming it in his face as he tried to chase after her. Sure, it was immature, but she was beyond caring about Jake. She had a freakin' world to fix!

She ran up the stairs, not knowing if Jake had a spare key and not wanting to find out, feeling rather self-satisfied that while she may have ruined whatever relationship she was forming with Loki here, at least she got to yell at a fucking douchebag and close a door on his pouty douche face.

She opened and closed her door swiftly and speedily, dead bolting it on the other side and sitting on her sofa to calm down. She didn't hear anyone attempt to knock or get in; so assumed Jake didn't have a key for the front door. She turned on the TV and flicked through the channels until she found an old Friends re-run. With a smile, she laid down on the sofa and closed her eyes, prepared to take a well-deserved nap, blaming the tears on Phoebe and Mike's sad break-up and not on the messed up life she seemed to be living.

Xxxxxx

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Thanks for reading! This chapter isn't really plot heavy but I think there are some nice Loki/Darcy moments in there. I'm not 100% happy with this chapter but I honestly couldn't think of any way to 'improve' it.

Please take a moment to review, I love to know what you all think and hopefully it isn't as bad as re-reading it felt :-S

Until next time!

Charlie


	5. Chapter 5

Suspend My Disbelief

Xxxxxx

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Hey! Sorry it's been so long. I promise it won't EVER be this long of a wait between chapters again. Basically, I've been on holiday! I went travelling around Europe and honestly thought I'd get this whole fic finished while I was gone… Turns out I was wrong and didn't get a single bit of writing done but on the up side, I had an amazing time travelling, drank wine by the Eiffel Tower, had a snowball fight in the Swiss Alps, ate the most amazing pizza and pasta in Rome… with wine… I'm surprised I wasn't tipsy the whole time I was away lol.

Anyway! I will hopefully be back to weekly updates from now on so thank you for waiting and continuing to read this.

Thanks again to my amazing Beta, Sandra. I know you've had the craziest few weeks but your continued support and help means the world to me! We MUST catch up soon!

Enjoy reading! And as always, please review/follow as it really means so much to have feedback/support from you guys!

Xxxxxx

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Chapter 5

"Nick!" She was vaguely aware of Jane's voice crying out near her but Darcy couldn't focus on her surroundings. She felt groggy and muted, like she was waking up but underwater, which she had never experienced but this was totally how she imagined it would feel like. "Nick! Darcy's waking up!"

Darcy wanted to move, to question where she was or how she had gotten there from her comfy sofa in her locked apartment, but she couldn't. Her eyes were heavy, and she couldn't only manage to half open them before they fluttered shut again from strain.

"Get her over here now with the others!" She heard Fury bark in the distance and was flooded with relief at the sound of the angry man's voice. This was the Fury she knew and loved! Did that mean she was home? She hoped so. What did Fury mean when he said the others? Darcy struggled to open her eyes again, but failed. She wanted to move, to speak, anything but it was like her body refused to listen as she lay on the ground, useless.

"Come on, Darcy, that's it, wake up." Jane's voice pleaded desperately.

Darcy couldn't though, her eyes tried to open, her consciousness becoming more and more aware but not able to control her body.

"Please! We need to know what's going on!" Jane tried again and Darcy felt her arm being tugged. She mentally winced when she heard Jane shriek at an explosion nearby and felt the fear rising inside her guts at the dangerous situation they were obviously in. If she could control her breath, Darcy imagined she'd be holding it right now.

"Darce, I don't know if you can hear me-"

Darcy woke up with a jolt to the sound of her phone making a strange tune. She covered her eyes with her arm and gave an exuberated sigh when she realized herself in this illusion reality hadn't even bothered to change the ring tone from the default one. How boring was she?

Damn it. Whatever dream she was having, it seemed pretty real. She didn't understand exactly what was happening, but it seemed to confirm her suspicions, someone had hypnotized some of the team and was attacking them while they were down. Darcy sighed and wondered who was trying to kill them this time; it had been awhile since their last attack and as far as Darcy could recall, The Avengers didn't have any enemies out there with this kind of power... expect Loki, who wasn't really an enemy anymore plus that weird President Coulson had said it was a woman anyway. She groaned and let out a scream of frustration.

No, that dream could only be a good thing. If she was slipping into reality when she dreamt it meant she was doing something right. She hoped.

"Uhhh!" Darcy's mind was a fucking mess. This wasn't field of expertise, she was the kind of person who sat at home and watched actors figure this stuff out, yelling at the screen at how easy the solution was and how blind they were. She felt guilty now and hoped others wouldn't do the same to her once this was over.

She rolled over on the sofa and was tempted to let the phone keep ringing until she remembered it might be Loki, he had said he'd contact her.

She hunted through her handbag and found it laying right at the bottom, picking it up she answered quickly without checking the number first.

"S'up?"

"Darcy?" She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose when she heard Loki's voice on the other end of the line, glad to hear a friendly voice as her mind still ached from this new piece of the puzzle she had to fathom.

"Hey, sorry, I couldn't find my phone." Darcy sat crossed legged on the carpet and now thought it was an ideal time to empty out her huge handbag and explore the innards. She took out the heavy books first and then tipped it upside down so everything fell out onto the cream carpeted floor with a jangling sound.

"That's quite alright. I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay." His voice was curt and direct; Darcy imagined he didn't speak to friends often on the phone.

She smiled into the speaker, glad that someone actually cared about her in this foreign place, even if it was a reformed psychopath. "Yeah, sorry about earlier. I... I don't know what got into him." Darcy lied, trying to cover for Jake's behaviour and make herself seem vaguely normal.

"It's fine, there is no need to apologize, I'm just glad you are okay."

"Okay, Lokay." Darcy immediately winced but only heard him chuckle. "Oh God, I promise I will never say that again." She rubbed her eyes and cursed her sleepy big mouth before spreading out the stuff from her handbag out more. She picked up a smaller bag and looked inside to find some make-up; she made a little 'hmm' noise as she zipped it closed. That's a good idea, usually Darcy just left her make-up loose in her bag and often lost it, it seemed smart to keep it all in the one place. Organised. Something she wouldn't have thought of.

"I went to college Darcy; I've heard every joke there possibly can be about my unusual name." Loki told her kindly.

"Like what? All I got were Pride and Prejudice comparisons, my roommates thought I was going to be a man and sweep them of their feet." She recalled, her mouth twisting at the memory of first meeting her dorm room buddies for the next year. "It was pretty lame."

"Err..." Loki stuttered and she could almost picture him shifting in his office chair.

"Don't worry; you don't have to tell me. I bet some of them were pretty bad." Darcy tried to reassure him.

"No, it's alright, the most popular one was about how I threw the best parties, I couldn't complain."

Darcy paused, trying to think of how that was funny. "Why?" She finally gave up, confused as she picked up a familiar looking black object and mentally yelled 'Score!'

"Because, they are low key." He said, his disdain for the pun obvious in his tone.

"Dude, that's awesome. I'm going to use that now, is that okay?" Darcy laughed.

"I'd rather you not-"

"You have no choice! I promise I won't say it around other people, just when it's us." Darcy said as she fished through various receipts and tried to figure out what they were for. Well, apparently she and her other self shared a love of peanut butter M&M's.

Loki sighed down the line and Darcy sudden wondered if she'd pushed the God too far or said the wrong thing. "I've called a restaurant for dinner tomorrow night, are you sure you still want to continue..." He let his voice trail off, waiting for Darcy to change her mind and reject him, she guessed.

"Loki. I want to have dinner with you. I want to get to know you. I want all that stuff, but what you saw today... Are you sure _you_ want to continue?" Darcy dropped a single earring onto the pile of handbag stuff again and sighed.

There was a long pause when Darcy didn't know what to say that didn't start with an awkwardly elongated "So….."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Loki said, emotion thick in his voice showing her that he was finding this as difficult as she was.

"I don't know. Humiliation?" She answered honestly.

"I knew it was too perfect." She heard him mutter forcefully to himself.

"It was perfect." Darcy told him confidently. "This all came out of nowhere. I didn't expect to be living this life until I was here_, living it_, you know?" She wasn't making much sense but was thankful when Loki made some positive responsive noises through the little speaker that encouraged her to continue. She hadn't completely fucked this up… yet. "I think this morning was meant to happen, it just wasn't meant to happen _this_ morning, you know?" Whatever _this_ was… She hoped he understood.

"Darcy, I am prepared to wait if you need time." Loki began. "I am also a grown man and quite capable of dealing with rejection. I would rather you just tell me now if this is just a morning that got out of hand for you and now you feel like you're backed into a corner. I'd understand; it's weird because you work for my company, but I don't think it would be awkward at all after I fired you." Darcy screwed her eyelids tightly shut, a burst of laughter escaping her lips at his joke. Why did he have to be so thoughtful, yet completely blind? Why did he have to be like this here? This reality would be a lot easier to figure out if everyone was just like their normal selves, but Darcy guessed that was part of the spell, to make her question herself, her head and heart. Fuck! She was going to kill whoever was going this to her! This Loki never had to deal with the shame of being a Frost Giant, he had loving parents that supported him even when times were rough and that obviously changed things. He was well-adjusted and Darcy wanted to be happy for him, except it was so complicated for her.

"I don't feel backed into any corners." Except the corner of this fake world! Darcy's mind reminded her. "My whole life feels a bit…out of hand at the moment." Darcy admitted, tucking her messy hair behind her ears, her arm dropping back into her lap as if it weighted a ton.

Darcy considered how much had happened in the past 30 odd hours. Everything was happening at such a fast pace, and she still had no idea what in the world was wrong or how to fix it. She seriously hoped her dream wasn't a dream but a flash back to reality and that she was right, this was all just some spell like Coulson said, while some woman attacked the Avengers when they were at their weakest. But did that mean her feelings and behaviour in this world were being controlled as much as everything else? That was one existential crisis she wasn't prepared to deal with right now.

"I can relate. I never planned on this morning, and obviously you didn't either, but Darcy?" Loki's voice was smooth and soothing and Darcy couldn't help but close her eyes and imagine him there with her.

"Yeah?" She answered, breathlessly; imagining his face inches from hers, their noses almost ghosting over each other's as they sat crossed legged on the floor together. She could almost smell his scent and if she only leaned forward…

"I'm so glad it did." His voice whispered softly in her ear and she shivered at how intimate it felt.

"Me too." She whispered mainly to herself, stunned as the truth slipped from her lips. She opened her eyes only to see the same empty room in front of her. "How- how was your meeting?" She quickly changed the subject, not prepared to deal with the emotions that she was feeling for him right now, mainly guilt for feeling anything for him.

"Long, but productive." Loki admitted and she heard some tapping on a keyboard and assumed Loki was working while talking to her, she almost felt offended but remembered how powerful and important he was here, that must come with the ability to multitask.

"Oh? Am I allowed to know what it was about?" Darcy teased.

"You'll find out soon enough." She could practically hear him smirk down the phone.

"All good I hope." She fingered a keychain, a frayed strip of material with the word Cambridge woven in faded string. She gave a silent gasp and felt her mouth open wide at the small and old token. Did that mean what she thought it meant? She went to fucking Cambridge University! In England! Fuck. This was huge, not even Jane in her world went to Cambridge, just Harvard, she thought with a smirk. Cambridge was way cooler than stupid lame Harvard! She thought childishly.

Darcy sprawled over on the floor to reach for her laptop while holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder. She Googled world university rankings and gave a mental fist pump to see that Cambridge was second to MIT whereas Harvard was a lousy third. Ha! Darcy gave the worn keychain a kiss, her mental victory only ruined by the fact Darcy here may have attended Cambridge in England but she didn't remember any of it because that wasn't her.

Aw well, she would totally throw this in Jane's face when everything was right again. Although in this reality, it meant her and Jane probably _both_went to Cambridge. Damn.

"Did you just blow a kiss down the phone?" She heard Loki's confused voice ask.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just... celebrating." She finished weakly. She forgotten Loki was on the other end of the phone, just 'hmm' ing in the right places as he spoke through his long and boring meeting.

"Oh?" That was all it took to spark his curiosity and Darcy could picture his face in that moment, lips pulled together in a slight smirk, eye brows raised, forehead crinkled up. It was a tempting image.

"Yeah, I found an old Cambridge thing; I was just celebrating how awesome I am." Darcy explained as if that was a completely normal thing.

"You went to Cambridge and your roommates could only tease you with Jane Austen references to your name? Wow, that place has seriously slackened on their admission criteria." Loki teased.

"Hey! I worked hard to get into that place." Darcy assumed bravely. "I bet you didn't go to half as good place as me." She knew that was probably untrue but after finding several loose pens in the messy pile on her floor and lining them up neatly, she needed some fun.

"I went to Harvard."

"Ha! You suck, they're like third-"

"I did my post-grad at MIT." Darcy scowled into the microphone.

"Whatever." She said, sulking slightly. "I've never even heard of them."

"You really are something else, you know that?" Loki laughed and Darcy wanted to prove him just how right he was.

"You have no idea." She smirked at the irony.

"I want to find out. Er… Darcy, I have to go." Loki suddenly said quickly, his tone changing drastically, no longer relaxed and charming, but back to being curt again.

"Okay." She didn't really think she had much say in the matter.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at 8. Wear a dress you can move in." And with that, the line went dead. She pulled the phone away from her face and smiled goofily at the dark screen, whipping the shiny surface on the sofa to clean where it had been pressed against her face. She didn't know what to make of that whole conversation. Well, she knew one thing, she was already in too deep with Loki, and boy was she in trouble because of it.

Darcy spent another five minutes counting the loose coins she found at the bottom of the pile, adding it to her purse and then organizing her bag in a way that was more her. Satisfied with her menial task, she set off to do some real research. She looked up to the wall she had cleared and put her discoveries and theories of this world on, she stood up and pulled down the 'Loki is evil' post it note and scrunched it up in her hand. She then grabbed her pad and wrote 'Evil Witch?' on it and put that under the 'Suspects' column. She still had three people that she needed to spend some serious time looking into, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff.

Darcy stood back and picked her laptop off the floor, sat on the sofa again and began to type.

Her first port of call was to look up Steve Rogers, Darcy felt rather foolish for just looking at Captain America before and not thinking to try hunting for his alter-ego, which obviously would have flagged up a lot more due to his celebrity status. Turned out Steve was in New York City the next day doing a book signing, Darcy almost thanked her good luck until she became suspicious at just how lucky she was to have such easy connections with over half of The Avengers. She worked for Thor and Loki and was about to start an equally beneficial project with Tony Stark, she had been given Bruce's number by Jane and then Steve's face was plastered all over New York on billboards. It was all too easy and yet completely impossible to understand at the same time. Darcy massaged the back of her neck, stiff and tense from the funny angles she'd been sleeping in and how she was staring down at her computer screen.

Darcy printed off the Wikipedia entry for Steve Rogers and taped it to the wall next to the bits and pieces she'd already gathered about Captain America. Eyeing the cartoon picture, she compared it to the real man and it was painfully clear they were obviously the same person even if they weren't in this version of reality.

She went back to sitting on the floor and typed in Clint's name, her finger hovered over the enter button as she thought about her silly crush on the S.H.I.E.L.D agent and her rapidly increasing feelings for Loki. She felt guilty, which was stupid because she and Clint never had anything real, just a little flirting; the fleeting touch of his fingers across hers as she handed him something. It wasn't until the night before she came here that Clint had shown any kind of interest in her. Darcy's mind went back to that evening, the feel of his hand on her back as they watched the Disney film made for teenage girls, the memory didn't bring that warm fuzzy feeling she had in her stomach at the time, now only ice cold dread flooded her insides.

She was over him.

No, that would mean they had something to begin with, which they certainly didn't. But her sudden switch off of any romantic feelings for the bow and arrow wielding Avenger meant one thing. She was definitely in too deep with Loki.

Even his name brought her heart rate up and that was a crazy stupid idea that only made the guilt she was feeling worse. How could she fancy a man who had killed so many?

Clint has killed hundreds of people too, but that wasn't an issue, her head kindly reminded her.

But Clint was a good guy, he did those things for his country, it was his job. She argued back.

Loki was under the control of the tesseract, he was responsible for his actions the same amount as if Clint would be if he was given a direct order. It was true, the tesseract wasn't completely to blame for Loki going off the handle but it certainly hadn't helped she supposed, but it still didn't make it any better.

Loki... Her mind began to retort but couldn't find the right words.

The Loki here was funny and lonely and kind and sexy as hell, but back home? When all this was over, she'd have to face that Loki, who was angry and hurt and spiteful. It was self-sabotaging to like him here; she'd only be setting herself up for disappointment when she got back.

And yet,...Darcy couldn't help but feel Loki in the world she knew was all those things too, he must have a sense of humor. He'd be a crappy God of Mischief if he didn't. He must be lonely, finding out your parents weren't your parents and that you were a monster that you'd been told horrific stories about as a child, conditioned to hate, would make anyone feel isolated. Then being rejected from your home planet, controlled by a mystic cube of glowing evil, and then returning home only to be punished certainly wouldn't make him feel welcomed, Darcy thought bitterly. No wonder he was angry all the time.

"But this isn't real." Darcy told herself out loud, stressing the ridiculousness of fancying a man that was merely an illusion. She closed her eyes and rubbed that tight muscle that ran along her neck, she wished she had Jane here to talk to.

Jane never gave the best advice, before Thor she had no real experience with guys, not that there were many in the Asshole of Nowhere, New Mexico. But now she and Thor were going steady, all of Jane's love life advice involved her trying to set Darcy up with random S.H.I.E.L.D agents or Stark Industry Employees so they could all double date. Or triple date if it was an employee Tony Stark wanted to intimidate by tagging along with Pepper. Darcy had rolled her eyes at the time, but if anyone was going to be level headed and give first hand advice about Darcy's feelings, it was Jane. After all, it's hard to meet other people who fancy alien gods with serious family issues.

Darcy wished she could just go home. Instead, she tapped the key on her laptop and watched as the screen filled up with various Clint Barton related things. She signed, she really hoped Clint wasn't a seventy year old piano tuner which was the first link. She scrolled down and after ten minutes of wrong websites, she found a Facebook link. Clicking on it with no confidence that it was him; she was pleasantly surprised to see Clint's smiling face appear on the screen, his arm wrapped around another person who was cropped out of his profile picture in a typical profile picture. Darcy was pleased; Facebook has had confusing privacy settings that Clint hadn't managed to figure out so she flicked through his pictures and information.

Turns out, Clint listed the 9th Precinct NYPD as his occupation and Darcy thanked her suspicious luck again that he was right under her nose. Darcy opened a new tab and found the location of the 9th Precinct easily, jotting it down on a post-it note for later. She hit print and watched as Clint's profile copied itself to paper before affixing it to her wall.

She relaxed a bit, knowing she had some more detective work of her own to do this afternoon and tomorrow, as she scrolled through his history and status posts to get a feel for what he was like in this reality. Not a great deal different, Darcy mused, he still joked, always leaving weird but funny messages on others' walls. He was still very much into physical activity, but apparently favored baseball and rock climbing over archery here. She opened a link that stood out from someone that posted halfway down his timeline and watched as the screened filled with a website Darcy had been on, The Inner Hulk Theory. Darcy didn't know what to make of that so looked at his comments, there were none. Damn. Again the Avengers were linked, even though this small, probably trivial post, Darcy frowned, not liking how close yet how far all of them were.

She sighed, ready to search for Natasha. Darcy decided to skip Google and went straight for Facebook, hoping it would be as useful this time as it just was. She typed in the name and thanked the stars that Romanoff was such an unusual surname when she saw Natasha's beautiful and smiling face pop up on the top of her search results.

Unlike Clint, Natasha understood Facebook's privacy settings and used them. Darcy swore, only finding out that she was born on the 29th of December but not what year and that she currently worked for PAX, but not which one.

Damn it, there were like 50 PAX's just in Manhattan alone. Darcy did a quick Google maps search and came back with 11 locations. Oh, so it wasn't that bad, Darcy reconsidered, and most of them are nearby each other, she thought with positivity.

Darcy grabbed her newly arranged handbag and keys, looking down at her clothes she found them barely wrinkled and acceptable to her standards of going out, but wanted to look more casual so she grabbed a cardigan from her wardrobe before setting off, print-outs of PAX's and the NYPD's 9th Precinct location in her bag. Lord knows what she'd say to them when she found them, they might not even be working today, but she knew she had to see them with her own eyes and check to see if they realized they were all under a spell as well. She doubted it, Coulson's words about her being the only one rang in her ears, but she swallowed the lump in her throat down and began her own mission, wishing she had a bad-ass playlist on her iPod to really get her in the detective spirit.

Xxxxxx

* * *

Darcy managed to pop into four of her eleven PAX's before she reached the one where Natasha worked. Darcy looked up into the sky and thanked whatever god she could because she was about ready to die of hunger anyway, her stomach making her very aware that all she'd had to eat today was a slice of left-over pizza and two hot chocolates. Finding the whole food restaurant where the person she was trying to stalk worked at was just too perfect of an opportunity to say no to.

Darcy walked through the sliding doors and was immediately cooled by the air-conditioning. Summer in New York was beautiful, but the humidity was a killer; she still wasn't used to how it just hit her as soon as she stepped outside. She had already spotted Natasha behind the salad bar, well, she spotted a flash of bright red hair and hoped it wasn't just a coincidence, so she grabbed a tray and a bottle of water and headed straight towards her.

"Hi there, how can I help you today?" Darcy blinked at the older woman. Natasha's hair was longer but tired up in an elaborate bun on the top of her head; some tendrils of fiery hair had escaped and were currently framing her creamy white skin. Darcy blinked again as the stunning secret spy she had learned to love and fear at the same time greeted her so warmly, so openly, so enthusiastically... so not like Natasha. It took two more blinks and a gulp before Darcy could reply.

"Yeah… Can I get the mixed greens to start?" Darcy pointed at the pile of pre-made plastic bowls of lettuce.

"Sure thing, sweetheart." Natasha nodded and grabbed one, pulling on a pair of blue gloves before opening the plastic and tipping it into a large metal bowl where she could add other ingredients and toss them. Darcy stood, almost star struck, mouthing the word 'sweetheart' at her bottle of water with a bemused expression on her face.

"Crazy weather we've been having." Darcy said, lamely, not knowing how to make normal conversations with strangers.

"I know, but we have to enjoy it while it lasts." Natasha beamed. "What else would you like?"

"Um… Cucumber, tomatoes, croutons and red onion please." Darcy said quickly, her eyes scanning over the wide range of options they had. "So, how long have you worked here?" She winced at her own question, she sounded like she was trying to hit on her!

Natasha did the polite thing and smiled down awkwardly as she got the food ready. "Three years, me and my friend moved here from Minnesota after college." Darcy nodded. This was so strange; it felt more like a cover story for a top secret mission than anything like Natasha's life. "What about you, you don't strike me as the local type."

"Same actually." Darcy replied, trying her hardest to be vague but friendly. "Moved with a friend after uni."

"Well, this is the greatest city in the world. I love it." Natasha looked down at her uniform and then flashed a bright smile back at Darcy. "This is only my day job, I'm training to be a jewellery designer, make my own necklaces and stuff." She gestured down to her neck where a colorful design of beads were intricately woven with lace sat. Darcy smiled, it was pretty. Really pretty.

"That's amazing!" Darcy said with enthusiasm that wasn't at all faked. It was really fulfilling to see Natasha passionate about something that wasn't killing or spying, she wondered is Natasha had a hobby like this back home, something to help unwind after a long day of… assassinating…

"Yeah, I've wanted to do it for so long, but didn't have the guts back home to do it, you know? That's the great thing about New York; you can be whoever you want to be."

Natasha's words stuck in Darcy's brain as she thanked her and paid for her lunch and went to a table at the front of the restaurant where she could keep one eye on the red-headed spy while eating.

Be whoever you want to be. Now that would be brilliant idea if Darcy could achieve it. Natasha was so happy here, so carefree and full of joy as she smiled to various customer and joked and laughed with colleagues. By the end of Darcy's lunch, she was seriously beginning to wonder if Natasha was happier here than she'd ever been in the normal world. Were they all happier? Bruce was. He no longer had physical monsters to deal with, only mental ones from his patients. Loki was. He was certainly less deranged and his relationship with Thor and his family was still strained, but it was fixable. Thor seemed the same, only with less weight on his shoulders to deal with. So was Jane. Fury had two eyes and smiled, which could only be a good thing. Tony was… still Tony she guessed, she'd yet to find out. Steve was famous for being the hero he always was, and it only took one look at Natasha to see how full of life she was here.

Was this the better reality for them? Where they lived normal lives? Well, normal-ish, Darcy thought as she reminded herself Steve was a legit war hero and Thor, Loki and Tony owned multi-billion dollar companies. They didn't have to fight crazy and dangerous villains every week; so their lives were certainly safer.

Suddenly, Darcy's drive to fix things wavered.

Xxxxxx

* * *

Darcy walked towards the 9th precinct, sipping her bottle of water as she went, seriously doubting her luck that she'd catch both Natasha and Clint on days they were working. She walked through the doors and immediately wanted to leave. It was too... official. It freaked her out when she knew the only reason she was there was so she could spy on a police officer. But the AC was nice, so she savored a moment of it before heading to the main desk.

"Excuse me?" Darcy was becoming worried that if she asked for Clint then they may just arrest her, but she had to do this, for the good of the world, she kept telling herself, convincing herself that things _had_ to be made right, even if she didn't feel that way right now.

"Hello?" A young man with tight curls, a nose ring and sweatbands on each wrist answered. He was obviously here on some kind of work experience, Darcy told herself, because she'd be seriously concerned if he was the main port of call in case she had an emergency. Hipsters. A necessary evil, she thought before smiling brightly, slipping her sunglasses down her nose before taking them fully off, yep, she was totally embracing the detective façade.

"Hey, I was just wondering if Clint was around?" She tried to sound casual, like she knew who she was asking for well and often visited him, which was sort of true, just not here.

"Who?" The boy answered, a bored look on his overly made-up 'just rolled out of bed' face.

"Oh sorry, Clint Barton? 5'9 ish. Brown hair. Arms that make your drool." Darcy was surprised to see the hipster blush at her last comment.

"Um..he left about five minutes ago. Coffee run, I think."

Darcy nodded to herself and slapped the counter in an over the top manner. "Thanks, keep up the good work dude." And she left, not caring if he could tell that her comment was laced in sarcasm or not.

When she got outside, it took a minute to look around and find the closest coffee shop, a Starbucks much to Darcy's disappointment, her head recalling the quant coffee shop her and Loki had been in just that morning. Her heart beat sped up and the butterflies in her stomach reappeared at the thought and hope that Clint might remember her and their real lives when the others couldn't. Her head told her stomach to calm down, that she was on her own and there was no use in hoping but that didn't stop the silent gasp that escaped her lips when she saw Clint. In a police uniform. That was short sleeved.

Her mouth went dry and suddenly her hypothesis that she was over Clint went out the window. Fuck, he looked amazing. How was it even legal to let men walk around the street like that causing woman and men alike to lose all sanity?

He was waiting with another cop, talking about something as they waited for their order. Darcy quickly grabbed another bottle of water and paid, not knowing what possessed her mind as she unscrewed the lid and walked straight into Clint's chest, cold water spilling down his dark blue uniform and splashing her red blouse.

The liquid was cool and made her jump at the contact but it was Clint's hands on her forearms that caused more shock.

"Woah, you alright there?" He sounded the same, light, casual and friendly. It was comforting after a confusing morning of nothing being normal.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Darcy looked down at the damage she caused, pleased with her acting abilities as she blushed at the sight of his shirt wet and clinging to his chest. Faking innocence had never been so easy. "Oh God, you're a cop as well. Fuck. I'm so sorry!" Rambling as she reached for some napkins and pressed them against his clothes. Wow… his chest was a lot more solid than she'd expected, she only blushed harder.

"It's fine, really, Miss." Darcy glanced up at his face, a genuinely embarrassed look on her face as she realized she was touching his chest in public.

"No, it was totally my fault, I wasn't... concentrating." Clint smiled down at her reassuringly.

"No, Miss, I should have been looking at who I was in the way of. Although I don't see how I could have missed a beautiful woman like yourself, which makes this entirely my fault." Charming, Darcy thought, she felt herself blush more as the butterflies started beating their wings double time.

"Are you going to arrest me now?" Darcy asked, glancing over Clint's shoulder at his partner who had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Locking a woman like you up in our cells? Now that would be the real crime." Darcy sighed, knowing that he was being super cheesy but loving it.

"Wow. Can I at least give you a muffin or something to make up for making you wet." She winced as he smirked at her poor choice of words. Why did she have to make things sound so dirty in her head?

"Er... I think we should start with names first."

"Darcy. Lewis. Darcy Lewis." She managed to choke out as she raised her hand to shake his. Why did she always turn into such an awkward school girl around him, and yet she was vaguely smooth and charming around Loki?

"Clint, Barton. Clint Barton." He mimicked her as his warm hand wrapped around hers tightly. Darcy smiled at his wit and raised an eyebrow at him mockingly.

"Clint? I didn't know people were still calling their kids that." She knew it was a bit harsh, but he mocked her first so it was only fair.

"Darcy? I thought people stopped calling their kids that after the 19th century."

"Funny, good knowledge of literature, super-hot body in sexy uniform... Is this some reality TV show I'm not aware of where they put a perfect man in front of a clumsy woman and laugh as she fucks it up?" Darcy smirked, matching his, she knew she had controlled and instigated their meeting but petting his ego wouldn't hurt if she needed to befriend him. Although if Clint remembered this when everything went back to normal, she would never hear the end of it.

"Sadly, no." Clint shook his head as a waitress called out his name to let him know his orders were ready. "Though, if this were a TV show, I'm sure this is the part when I ask for your number." He gave a wink and Darcy would have rolled her eyes at him for being a cocky shit if it didn't play so well into her plans.

She laughed lightly, reaching into her handbag to find a pen she knew was in there, then straightening out a damp napkin she had used to dry herself, she wrote her name and phone number on a less wet patch then handed it over to him with a wink of her own. She put on her biggest brightest smile that she had used around him a hundred times before.

"Well, who are we to deny that kind of logic?"

Clint leaned in close and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, which only increased her blushing. She must have been tomato red by now, even the cool water down her blouse wasn't helping her feel less hot around him. "It would be unthinkable, Miss Lewis." She breathed in, his scent of spice and coffee filling her nostrils; she was reminded of her mission. She needed to focus and not on his arms! She scolded herself when her eyes started to trace a vein on his forearm. Darcy closed her eyes and opened them to face the ceiling, before giving him another blinding smile, she leaned into him.

"No, unthinkable is you not using that number and calling me." Darcy let her hand trial down his bicep and tapped lightly on his elbow before stepping back, wondering where all this confidence around him was coming from. Darcy guessed it was because this wasn't real, so what was the harm? But it felt different, like although he was still as handsome and charming as the Clint she knew, she wasn't worried about what he thought of her anymore, which allowed her to act without concern of the consequences. "Well, you better go; I think your buddy over there wants you." Glancing over at the other cop, who had crossed his arms and now looked annoyed at his partner's flirting.

"Oh, he's just upset that he has a wife, so he can't flirt with the most beautiful girl in all of New York." Another wink followed and Darcy threw her head back as she laughed.

"Now that was just too cheesy, even for me." She carefully twisted the cap back on her bottled water and slipped it into her bag. "You already have my number; you don't need to flatter me as much anymore."

"It's not flattering if it's just the truth." Clint said rather gallantly, swooping Darcy's hand into his with stealth that she wasn't sure was normal for 'just a cop' and kissed the back. "I'll be calling you." He grabbed the coffee holders filled with paper cups of various sizes and said goodbye.

Darcy watched his ass as he walked away and was only a little bit embarrassed when he caught her gaze. Ah well, not like he'd remember this when the illusion was broken anyway.

Darcy ran her day through her head, she had accomplished a lot all things considered. She'd met Bruce, befriended Loki, and somehow agreed to go on a date with him the next day, she'd discovered a more laid back Natasha and a super flirtatious Clint who she'd managed to give her number to, in hopes that he'll call and she can add him to her list of contactable Avengers in this world. All in all, Darcy was petty fucking awesome at this undercover surveillance stuff. She only have one Avenger left by her count and he wouldn't be almost impossible to get to unless Loki and Thor agreed for her and Jane to work for Stark.

She got a cab home, not wanting to walk all the blocks back in the sweltering humidity and not bothered at spending her alternatives self's money.

She was greeted at her apartment door to a bouquet of roses, a deep hue of red that she instantly adored. Struggling to open her door with one arm wrapped around the vase, she had to wait until they were safely placed on her kitchen counter before reading the note.

'I had a great time this morning; I can't wait to see you again. Until tomorrow. L'

Darcy sighed, perching on her kitchen counter next to the obviously expensive flowers, wondering how bad of a mistake she had made by leading Loki on like this. He was fragile enough and Darcy was very likely to fuck it up somehow by letting something slip, like how she knew nothing about science or Cambridge or fuck! She didn't belong here and when he figured out she was a fraud it would only make him close himself off like before. Darcy wondered why he put himself out there for her but guessed it was just a matter of timing and not her in particular that interested him, just that he was now ready and she was there. Not that Darcy minded. The attention was incredible, especially from such a power man, and her inner feminist hated herself for admitting that.

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!" Darcy read the note again and walked over to her wall and stuck it next to Loki's section. She didn't want to hurt him, which was a crazy thing to think because this wasn't real! She kept telling herself, but it just stuck with her.

She stepped back from the wall and sighed. She now knew what each Avenger did and had met nearly all of them in person; she was going to the book signing tomorrow to meet this version of Steve. But she was no closer to figuring out how to fix this. How to break the spell…

Darcy's Disney-raised inner child prompted her that true love's kiss always broke the spell, but Darcy just snorted at herself. If only it was that easy, she thought with a smirk. No, this villain they were fighting, in the real world where her friends were in trouble because they were trapped here too, helpless, unconscious… this baddie was a lot stronger than them if she could trick all of them so easily into the dream world.

Darcy's mind was reeling, questions she had been asking herself for the past two days whirling around, demanding answers she didn't have.

Why was she here? She certainly wasn't an Avenger.

Why was she the only one who could remember?

Why did she see Coulson when he was dead?

Was this a crazy Lost situation where they were all dead already and this was some fucked up kind of limbo? Darcy really hoped not. She hated that show…

Why are everyone so different and yet so similar to their normal selves? Were they better off here? Safer?

How was she going to fix this? She had nothing to go on now.

Would Steve be like the others and not remember her? She doubted it, Coulson words about 'just her' echoed again and she was beginning to accept that was the case.

What would she wear to her date tomorrow night? Fuck. She hadn't been on a proper date in… ever!

Why did she have such a strong connection to Loki anyway?

And most importantly, why didn't she mind?

There were too many questions and she just didn't know what to think. How was meeting all the Avengers actually going to help her anyway? She might as well just enjoy her time here and wait for herself to die in the real world or stay trapped here, however the whole thing worked, she didn't know.

Darcy sat on the sofa, her vision getting darker and blurry. Before she knew it, her eyes had rolled into the back of her head and she passed out.

Xxxxxx

* * *

So… what do you think? I hope it was worth the wait. What will happen next? How is controlling this spell? Dun dun dunnnn!

Please review, I love reading about all your ideas and thoughts. And even one or two words really make my day!

Thanks for reading! It's good to be back! :-D

Charlie


	6. Chapter 6

Suspend My Disbelief

Xxxxxx

* * *

Hello, I can't believe how behind I've gotten with this fic! Unfortunately I can't see it getting much quicker in the near future either. I work in a theatre and Christmas is our busiest time, with two shows EVERYDAY (except Tuesdays lol) rather than the usually 8 a week. I'm not on stage or anything, but the paperwork sure piles up and I end up running around actually working rather than sneakily writing next chapters for this story!

But in the new year the turnaround should be a lot quicker, although there are only 11-ish chapters to this fic so we're already halfway there!

A huge shout out and congratulations to my Beta, SleepySandy who graduated yesterday! You are amazing and even in this crazy busy time of your life, you have managed to make time for me and I cannot thank you enough!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thank you for your continued patience and support!

Xxxxxx

* * *

Chapter 6

Darcy woke up early the next morning, black spots plaguing her vision as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She didn't remember falling asleep on the sofa, but that's where she had obviously ended up.

After she got dressed and ready for her day, she stood in front of her wall of knowledge, staring blankly and wishing answers would pop out of the random information she had gathered. There was always that moment of realisation in TV shows and movies, if only she could have one of her own… After an hour of looking whist chewing on her bottom lip, she gave up and headed out of the apartment.

She decided to take the subway to get to the book shop Steve was signing at today, it wasn't too far, but her feet hurt and she was still exhausted from all the activities from the previous few days that she couldn't recover from with just one night of good sleep. It was half past eight when she arrived and, there was already a queue outside the shop and around the block. She sighed, knowing that she'd be standing around for a while, mentally thanking the comfy boots she wore as she joined the back of the line.

She waited in the queue all morning and was seriously tempted to give up on her mission and find a sugary food to eat when a nice lady in front of her opposite of her in the line offered a toffee candy, which Darcy tried to make last as long as she could, tricking her rumbling stomach into thinking it was having more food than it really was.

She soon started talking to the older woman after her sweet offering and found out her son was in one of the first few tours of Afghanistan in 2002 before he got killed, or so they all thought. Steve had been the one to break into a prison war camp and free him; he wanted to come himself, but his health forced his hand; though it didn't stop the ninety year old mother from travelling from Chicago to thank the man who had returned her boy safely home. Darcy felt the tears welling up in her eyes before the woman was even one sentence into her story. Damn it, Steve, even in this fake world, was such a freakin' hero. Darcy smiled and nodded and even a few tears of joy escaped when the lady, June, told her about the day her son, John, turned up on her doorstep, propped up with the help of two other soldiers, all in full uniform, but he just pushed them back, finding the strength he needed to hug his mom despite the permanent injuries he received in the field.

It was nearly two in the afternoon when she and June were next in the line. She wasn't hungry anymore, June held her place in line while she went and got a sandwich for them both at a local Costa, and Darcy held her place when she needed to head to the restroom a bit later. Jane always commented that Darcy made friends instantly with the most random people, and today she was glad that she did because June was amazing, so strong and wise, with a dry humor that totally matched hers, as a young bookshop clerk struggled to carry a heavy box of Steve's books to the front table and the lady commented how he reminded her of Bambi trying to walk on ice. They both stifled a laugh when the young man tripped but managed to catch himself.

Darcy wished June farewell just before her turn and June told her to Facebook her, to which Darcy was shocked that the older woman had a profile, yet it seemed to fit. Then she watched as Steve greeted June with a hug, somehow knowing her name then explaining John had shown him a photo of her after the rescue and Steve still remembered, June was in flood of tears and Darcy wasn't far behind as she watched Steve smile kindly at the old woman and offer her his seat. She overheard them chat about John, how he was coping without the full use of his left leg which had been paralyzed after nerve damage; Darcy smiled to herself at how perfectly Captain America he was, even if he didn't know it.

Ten minutes later, and Darcy suddenly understood why the queue was moving so slowly before, despite his manager trying to make him wrap up their conversation, Steve kept asking questions and telling June about this or that, they swapped emails and Steve said he would come visit John next time he was near Chicago.

Then it was her turn.

Darcy stepped forward after an usher motioned for her to, and she fixed a bright and hopefully not too delusional looking, smile on her face.

Steve kissed June bye on the cheek as she stood up and left, thanking him again, then he turned his gaze onto the next person in line, a similarly wide smile on his face ready.

"Darcy!" Her eyes went wide and she froze in place as Steve stepped forward and took her in his arms, lifting her straight off her feet and spinning her around.

"Steve?" She asked tentatively, she seriously wasn't expecting him to recognize her, after all, no one else had!

He dropped her back on her feet but steadied her with his hands on ever side of her arms. His blue eyes searching hers with glee. "Darcy, I can't believe you are here!" He cried, a wide smile on his face. He leaned closer to her and dropped his volume. "I thought it was all a dream!" The disbelief was evident in his voice.

Steve knew her! He knew this was wrong and he probably knew a way for them to get back home! Darcy let herself go and felt the urge to scream at this success but was smiling too widely to do anything but nod. Steve knew her and everything was going to be okay.

"It's not a dream."

"I can see that. Lord, Darcy, I'm so glad you found me."

"Well, you're hard to miss." She teased, punching him lightly on the arm, making his hands drop away from her as he smiled bashfully. "So, Cap, how's life here for you?"

"Same old, I guess." He shrugged and Darcy guessed he was referring to the whole public hero image thing, although here Steve was the hero, not Captain America. She wondered if he preferred being thanked without the mask on but decided now wasn't the time to ask. Steve knew her! She just wanted to jump up and do a victory dance, but managed to suppress the urge. Darcy must have been smiling like a maniac but she didn't care, she just wanted to hug, kiss, squeeze the superhero and the hope he always provided like a constant aura.

"I can't believe you know me! It's such a relief, no one else does!" She whispered excitedly, not wanting to sound like a freak in front of people but she needed to tell him desperately.

"The others are here as well? Like, The Hulk?" Steve's eyes were wide with shock and Darcy nodded furiously. "They don't know you?"

"Yes! Well, no. Bruce doesn't know he's Hulk or anything, no one has their superpowers and they all seem to think they _are_ these people, they can't remember anything." Darcy gripped his biceps tightly, the material of his shirt getting wrinkled under her desperate grasp. She searched his eyes, so blue and crystal clear... She paused, a moment of dread passing through her as she remembered him speaking about him war memories with June. "Wait, how do you remember?" She asked, perplexed at his knowledge of his counterparts history when she knew nothing.

"What do you mean?" Steve looked up at his manager and made a motion with his hand to give himself a break. He then took Darcy by the hand and lead her to a cornered off area of the bookshop, Darcy couldn't help but stare at his perfectly shaped jaw, the angle was square and prominent to the point where even she was mesmerized and she had waaaay more important things to be thinking about. Then again, it was only patriotic to admire the awe-inspiring face of America.

"I don't know anything about Darcy Lewis here, she's some freakin' awesome doctor of science and I'm a college drop-out, you get me?"

"No, I don't know anything about my dreams, just that I have them and you're there. There… there's some kind of battle and I'm in a red, white and blue suit-" Steve's voice trailed off, a hopeful look at Darcy as if she could fill in the blanks.

"Fuck. No, that's not right." Darcy closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath, why was everything so wrong and complicated and wrong! She thought two minutes ago she'd finally managed to catch a break but now this was more confusing still. "That's not a dream, that battle is real. It's happening right now and someone has put us all to sleep in the middle of the fight so we're defenceless."

"Wait, I'm confused."

"Tell me about it..." Darcy muttered, looking at the row of books behind his head before facing him again. "So you know who you are here?" Steve nodded. "But you know about Captain America." He nodded again.

"Only what I see when I sleep?" He informed her, not sounding as confident as he did before.

"Shit. This is so strange. So this is normal to you? This world, this life?" He nodded. She ran a hand through her hair, it getting stuck halfway down in some tangled curls; so she had to tug down hard to free her fingers. "But when you sleep, you dream reality, _my_ reality?" She was met again with a nod and a murmered "I guess". "Okay, I can work with that." She breathed to herself, trying to stay positive. At least Steve knew about his real self, just not the same way she did. That was a start, she tried to convince herself feebly.

"So the dreams are true?" That hopeful tone was back as Steve looked nervously round the shop then dropped his gaze to her, eyes darkening, like he was about to do something naughty. "I'm really a superhero?"

Darcy paused. "You're a superhero here by the looks of it." She said offhandedly. "But yeah, you're like mega-strong and fast. Great stamina." She couldn't stop her gaze from dropping inappropriately before quickly recovering. "And you think faster, like a better brain process, I think it's called. You're Captain Freakin' America, they have songs and YouTube parody videos and everything." Darcy began to ramble, she searched the taller man's face to see if he was still with her and hadn't got that lost look that most people get when she rambles. Good. "So we need to get everyone back there, because this is wrong." Her arms flailed around her body, gesturing at what she was refereeing to, even if it was just the surround shelves in the bookshop.

"Okay, give me a moment to just process this." Steve ran a hand over his forehead, his jaw slack and eyes wide. Nothing like the Captain America she knew. "I thought it was just post-traumatic stress disorder but it's true?" It was Darcy's turn to nod. "Wow." He exhaled and propped himself against a book shelf. "So you know all about me there?"

"Yeah, kind of, I mean, I don't have all the answers, I'm not JARVIS. But you're a legend, that's why we need to get back, and I know it doesn't _seem_ like we should be rushing but I'm pretty sure our selves in real life are getting their asses kicked, so we need to figure out a way to get back, or wake up, or whatever so you can start saving lives, including mine, because I'm more than useless in a battle scenario."

"Slow down." Steve tried to calm her rambling. She was getting worked up, but the fact that now someone else understood her and could help was enough for her to lower her guard and start freaking out. "So this is all a trick?" Darcy wanted to roll her eyes at Steve's slow uptake but couldn't, so far he was the only other person who had some vague idea about the real world, even if he only dreamed it, which she had no clue why he knew about both of his lives, the fake one and the real one. Maybe he was another glitch like her… Darcy wondered if he saw Coulson too…

"Yeah, apparently a woman has hypnotized us all so she can attack when we're all "indisposed"... well, I say we, I mean the Avengers, I still have no idea why I'm here, because I'm pretty useless in both realities."

"Maybe it's like Inception; we need a kick or trigger." Steve's brow furrowed. "Something to wake us up."

"I guess, but wouldn't that have to come from the layer above us, which I'm seriously hoping is reality and not another layer, now that you've put Inception into my head." Darcy said bitterly. "That movie was awesome, but I couldn't figure out who was doing what until, like, the ninth time I watched it."

"Sorry."

Darcy waved her hand between them. "Nah, it's cool. But I think you're right, there must be some kind of trigger that will make everyone wake up and short of killing ourselves in this world or the bitch who did this, I have no idea what that trigger is." Darcy bit her bottom lip and began to think. "Maybe there's a back door or something." Darcy poundered out loud, she could feel the cogs of her brain working at twice the speed now she had someone else to throw idea off of. Steve saw the other world when he dreamt but didn't know it was real until now, Darcy vaguely recalled the time she dreamt of the battle on the roof of Stark Tower as well… Darcy was beginning to think the veil between the dream world and the real one was thinner when they slept.

"I know this isn't real, but I have to get back to that queue of people..." Steve said unsure of himself, sheepishly. Darcy wanted to smile; it was sweet that during this moment of craziness he still worried about the fans, although Darcy wanted to shake him and make him see the priorities. She guessed Cap and this Steve were different. Captain America was a great guy, but he knew how to handle a problem and this Steve obviously didn't.

"Oh, that's cool. Here," Darcy grabbed his hand and the pen he was using to sign books with then jotted down her mobile number. "That's my number. Call me, I'm free like all the time, then we can meet up and figure this all out." She blew on the ink so it didn't smudge and hugged him. "I'm just so glad it's not just me anymore." She muttered into his chest, feeling oddly young at that moment in time, admitting that it was too much for her to handle alone.

Steve patted her back and rested his perfectly shaped chin on the top of her head briefly. "It's okay. We'll sort this out." Darcy nodded against his shirt and blinked some tears away before releasing him.

"Yeah, I mean now that Captain America is on my side, we'll get this fixed in no time!" God, she hoped that was true, her positive personality was looking up at this development.

"You have no idea what you being here means to me Darcy. I thought I was going insane, dreaming of this world of superheroes and fighting... waking up every morning panicked because it was so real... it is real... My doctor wanted me to take these drugs, drown out the dreaming, but I couldn't, not when all those people needed me in that world." Steve choked. "I thought I was helpless."

Darcy slowly unwrapped her arms and pulled her head back from his chest, tilting it up to meet his sad eyes. "If there's one thing you will never be, Steve Rogers, it's helpless."

He blushed, and if Darcy wasn't so happy with him, then she would have made a joke.

They said goodbye and Darcy left the bookshop feeling more optimistic and confident than she had in days. She waved for a taxi, fishing through her handbag to make sure she had enough cash to get her home then let out a long sigh of relief as she relaxed into the tough leather.

Xxxxxx

* * *

"Jane! I can't move into Stark Tower. It's too..." Darcy struggled to find the right word.

"Generous?" The older woman offered.

"Well, yeah, that too, but I was thinking more along the lines of ostentatious."

Jane rolled her eyes and shook her head, a delicate hand brushing strands of hair out of her unimpressed face. "Darcy..." She warned.

"What?" She threw her hands up in mock innocence. They were both currently sitting at a work bench in Jane's lab at Stark Tower on the 85th floor, eating carrot sticks with hummus that Darcy had made the night before.

"That apartment of yours is terrible! I feel awful every time you go home, knowing you're alone in that tiny place." Darcy was tempted to roll her eyes, sure her flat was in the middle of the dodgiest part of the alphabet city but Darcy had yet to actually see anything unsafe, the knowledge that she had a hidden weapon in her pocket and she worked for the most fearsome superheroes in the world had that effect on self-confidence. She liked her old, mouldy, slightly broken apartment. Darcy had never had anything that was hers, and although she was just renting it, it was a home that she dreamed of in those long crowded nights at the orphanage when she had to sleep on the floor so a new, younger child had a bed. Although, her dreams never involved a landlord who didn't even try and disguise his leering stares at her breasts, or the lovely single mom who lived next door, working three jobs so she could look after her kids on her own, having left an abusive husband. Darcy felt for the woman, befriended her, knowing how hard it must have been she offered to babysit the kids every Tuesday and Thursday while Anna went to work. Anna insisted on cooking for her as a small token of thanks, but Darcy dismissed the notion very quickly, it wasn't really a chore looking after Sian and Rodrigo and it gave Darcy the chance to watch Disney movies without feeling guilty.

"I'm not alone, I have nice neighbours." Darcy mused before swiping a huge dip of hummus on the carrot in her hand and munching on it.

"But you can have everything here; Tony's got everything you could ever want."

"In one easy to find location? "There are hundreds of gadgets all under one roof, it's called Starks'r'us!" Why live anywhere else when you can live at Tony's!" Darcy mocked like a cheesy infomercial before glaring at Jane. "I like my home. If I moved, then I'd live, work, eat and sleep all in the same place. It would be like prison."

"I should be offended." Shit! Darcy spun on her stool and came face to face with Tony Stark. His usual cocky smirk graced his features and Darcy almost felt embarrassed at her previous comment. Great way to meet the big boss man of the building she worked in, Darcy thought sarcastically. "Catchy theme tune, by the way. I might use that one day." He strolled over and grabbed a carrot from the plate between them.

"Look, Mr Stark, you're offer is super generous. I mean, this place, wow…" Darcy motioned around to lab they were currently in, decked out with the latest, most expensive and best equipment any scientist could ask for. But Darcy wasn't a scientist and Jane didn't seem to get that living next door to her place of work wasn't as appealing to Darcy as she thought it was. "But I have a nice apartment; I have friends and a life outside of this tower. So thanks, but no deal."

Tony seemed to ponder over her words as he chewed slowly on the crunchy snack. "It wasn't really a deal or no deal choice." Tony said after a minute of staring.

"I'm sorry?" Darcy asked, shocked, already feeling herself get angry at what he was implying. She crossed her arms over her chest and sat a little higher on her chair. Would he fire her if she didn't move in? There must be some kind of laws against this.

"That's alright, I forgive you. So you'll move in tomorrow?" Darcy gaped at him.

"I'm not moving here." Darcy told herself to calm down, that Tony was an ass and just messing with her. She forced her shoulders to relax and made a joke. "Do you know how hard it is to pull a sicky and go to the zoo when your boss lives next door?" Darcy shielded her mouth from Jane and she gave a stage whisper and pointed unsubtly in her direction.

Tony laughed and Darcy felt a little less angry. "Darcy, I will pay you to go to the zoo in work hours if it means Jane here gets a break. Seriously, after you leave she sneaks back in here and works until gone 2am…"

Darcy looked at the other woman and narrowed her eyes.

"I knew it! You lying little astrophysicist!" She jokingly mocked anger. Jane avoided her gaze and suddenly found the hummus very interesting. Tony was appealing to Darcy's sense of duty, she was always telling Jane she needed a break and that's exactly what he was saying in a trick to get her to agree then cave in and move. "Wait a minute… how…" How did Tony Stark know exactly what buttons of Darcy's to press? Jane was still avoiding her gaze, and Darcy knew that she was behind the act of mutiny. "Traitor!" She pointed in horror. "You told him my only weakness; I thought you were my friend!" Darcy cried dramatically, knowing the second Tony brought Jane's welfare into the mix that she had lost the battle. Darcy knew Jane snuck into the lab after she left, the disorganized papers randomly shoved in drawers the next day were poorly hidden and a dead giveaway of a midnight science snack. Darcy pretended not to notice, pouring Jane a larger cup of coffee, making sure she eats a healthier than usual breakfast then made sure they finished early on those days to make up for it.

"Darcy, Tony told me someone was murdered on the street next to yours last week!" Jane yielded, she never handled pressure well. Or guilt. Darcy turned her glare to Tony this time. Now she knew why Jane had caved and told Tony about her constant worry about the older woman, because Tony had guilt tripped Jane into it. Sneaky, she thought annoyed, although slightly impressed at his ability to manipulate people. Darcy couldn't help but wonder why Tony cared about where she lived, but decided now wasn't the time for that weird line of thought.

"Fine." She gave in with a growl. "But only if we have a movie night. Everyone in the group, no exceptions; except world invasions or megalomaniac attacks on the city." She countered, pointing at Tony; he was nodded with wide eyes, obviously not knowing what he was getting into with Darcy living there full-time. "Every week!"

"Deal." Tony grabbed the hand she was pointing with and shook it, not caring about how awkward it was. "JARVIS, did you get that verbal contract?" He asked the ceiling.

"Indeed sir, shall I add it to the list of other terms people have made in agreement to having residence here?" The slightly tired and exasperated voice asked.

"Yep! And we shall start movie night tonight! Ladies choice, of course." Tony motioned with his hands to Jane and Darcy as he backed towards the door, happy with the answer he got and leaving before Darcy had the chance to change her mind or make any more demands. Darcy recognized the actions, she would have done the same thing herself, and that only frustrated her more, she couldn't hate Tony Freakin' Stark because he was as sneaky as she was! "8 o'clock, penthouse, be there or be a hexaflexagon!"

"Hey! Hexaflexagons are cool!" Darcy yelled back before he left the lab. She sighed and turned back to Jane, her mouth twisting into a pout as she narrowed her eyes at the older woman, her eyebrows rising as if asking what the hell that was all about. "What? They flex…"

"Tony just wants us to be a team, a happy family. He doesn't have much of a family." Jane supplied lamely as way of an explanation for her actions. "Like most of the people here." Darcy wanted to roll her eyes, but she couldn't mock Jane for having loving parents and a sister in Washington. Darcy's heart melted slightly and she couldn't be mad anymore. She'd never had the happy family thing; so this was completely unknown territory for her and she knew she shouldn't be as begrudging or defensive as she was, but Darcy had had to work hard for everything she'd ever had, it wasn't always easy and it felt wrong taking Tony up on his offer, like she as a charity case he felt guilty for after reading her file. She hated charity.

"This is the most dysfunctional family ever. And I've seen Game of Thrones _and_ Arrested Development."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't." Darcy pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed; she stood up from the stool and began to clear up the plates and remains of their lunch before pausing and turning to face the doctor again. "Thank you Jane."

"For what?"

"For… caring…" Darcy felt the tears already forming and that lump appeared in her throat that made it hard to talk without her voice breaking.

Jane's eyes softened instantly. "Oh, Darcy-" She began.

"No!" Darcy held a plate out in front of her as Jane stood up and went to hug the younger woman. "I don't want that. You're like the best friend I've ever had, but I will never forgive you if you hug me right now!" Jane edged closer and Darcy stepped back. "I swear, Jane, if you hug me right now I'll cry and I am _not_ crying in front of my boss. It's… unprofessional!"

"I'm not your boss." Jane wrapped her arms around Darcy's waist and rested her head on the taller girls shoulder. "You're my sister." Darcy closed her eyes, a stray tear escaping as she placed the plates on the closest table and hugged the older woman back.

Xxxxxx

* * *

An emergency stop and the driver honking his horn at a bike jolted her from that memory. Darcy turned away from the window and brushed her finger over her cheek, swiping the tear away before it slipped down her face any further. She wondered why she had suddenly thought of that afternoon, she guessed it was because that's the moment she finally felt like she belonged somewhere. Darcy glared at the passing city, New York… The city that knew everything… The city that could give you anything… She thought bitterly.

Well, she wanted to go home.

It didn't take much longer for her to get back to the apartment and she slowly walked up the stairs, wishing her and Steve had more time earlier. She opened the door and let it bang against the inside wall as she entered, kicking it shut with the slight heel of her boot. Falling backwards on the sofa/makeshift bed, Darcy flicked on the TV and waited. Waited for Steve to call her. She gazed over at the wall of information and frowned; she seriously hoped Steve would have more idea than she did. His idea of a kick was brilliant but how was she supposed to know what would jolt them awake from this dream like spell? She sighed and turned her attention back to the crappy sitcom; she'd already seen this show a hundred times before but she was lost and didn't feel like running around on an endless goose chase anymore. Today was a mild success but she still didn't know anything more about fixing this except now Steve was prepared to help. She drowned in the moving picture and zoned out of life for an hour before her stomach grumbled. She run the same pizza place as before and ordered the same thing, it was delivered half an hour later where she paid the boy then sat back on the sofa and veg'd out for another hour.

"You have to think, Darcy."

She dropped her head into a pillow and screamed into it. "I know! But-" She sat up straight and glanced around the room. "Hello?"

There was nothing. No one.

"I have to what?" She asked the empty room. Oh god, had she finally gone crazy? This was it. The metal breakdown Jane thought she was having.

"You have to think, time is running out." Darcy finally looked at the TV screen and gasped. Coulson was the main picture, only he wasn't wearing his usual suit and tie, no, he was dressed in jeans and a bowling shirt… the same one the character from the crappy TV show before was wearing. Darcy scrambled off the sofa and moved closer to the television set, crouched on her knees as she pressed her hands against the cool glass screen either side of his image.

"How?" She whispered, hoping he could hear her.

"Time is running out." He said again and laughter was heard in the background of the strange TV show he was appearing in.

"I know, but I don't know how to fix it!" She cried out louder. "What can I do? Tell me!"

"Think, what did I last do with them?" Phil on the screen searched throw a fruit bowl on the table, throwing oranges and apples all over the room, the actions were met with more crowing laughter and Darcy didn't know if he was still talking to her or not.

"You? I don't-"

"Oh! He'll kill me if I can't find them…" The little TV Phil spoke to himself, hunting for the item he had apparently lost.

"Kill you? Loki?" Darcy asked, afraid of the answer. "Can Loki wake everyone up?"

Phil reached on a high shelf for something when a box of cereal fell off and hit him on the head. "No! That's no help!" He said angrily, kicking the foot stool he used to stand on across the kitchen floor.

"Okay, not Loki. Who then?"

"What did I last do with them!?" Darcy let out a frustrated growl and hit the screen.

"You think you're helping right now, Coulson, but why can't you just come out and tell me what you mean instead of-" She watched the slapstick version of Agent Coulson hit himself in the face with a cupboard door and make an over the top reaction. This was no help! Darcy grabbed each side of the TV set and shook it, hard. "Come on! You can't tease me like this, it's unfair." She whimpered after her short outburst of rage. The TV wobbled on its shelf, and Darcy slapped the flat screen again as Phil's face morphed back into the original actors who had found his keys. "Phil… I couldn't really use you right now." Darcy turned her face to the side, closing her eyes as she pressed her cheek against the cool surface of the screen. She missed Phil. When she'd briefly worked in the underground S.H.I.E.L.D base just outside of New York after the first Thor incident, Phil had been there to make her and Jane's transition easier. And he had. The first day they arrived, wide eyed at the extensive military style base, Phil had greeted them warmly, apologizing for everything that went down in New Mexico before handing Jane her ID card and pass then turning to Darcy and giving her the same items and an iPod. Her iPod! He had wrapped the headphones around the small device and tied them into a bow like a present and Darcy let out an uncharacteristic squeal and hugged the older man.

Phil had shown them round, sat with them at dinner in that big scary dining room where they were surrounded by secret agents and felt incredibly out of place. Phil had visited them in the lab and always introduced them to new people but never spoke down to them when they didn't understand what someone's job title meant or if she called him on his private line because she got lost in the staircases for the fourth time that week. He found her and escorted her back to the lab, telling her she was gifted in other ways when she put herself down at her stupidity. Darcy respected him because of it, she knew how easy it was for people to look down at her, especially a man of his importance, but he never did. Darcy had even considered what he would have been like as a father but dismissed it as a passing thought.

Then a few weeks later she was shipped off to Tromso, Phil was the one who told them and Darcy foolishly followed his orders blindly, never even considering that S.H.I.E.L.D had other reasons for sending them there that Jane speaking at some symposium and Darcy needed to accompany her otherwise the doctor wouldn't eat or sleep or even find her way out of the airport. When they were flown back another agent was waiting for them at arrivals.

"Where's Phil?" Darcy had asked Agent Sitwell.

They spent the whole ride back to Stark Tower in silence. Jane crying at her lost colleague and Darcy upset that he lied to her then got himself killed before she could yell at him. Jane asked how she was doing a week later and Darcy shrugged the question off, people had gone before, living in an orphanage she watched as many of her "friends" got the chance of a home and left, promising it wasn't the end of their friendship but never speaking to them again. It was the same thing, Darcy told herself, only it wasn't.

Phil made her feel like she was worth something. That helping Jane do the work she did was just as important _as_ the work Jane did. Phil was a handler and so was she, he explained and Darcy looked up to him, wanting to be like him one day.

Then he was gone and she knew no one would every treat her like that again. No one would give her the encouragement she'd never had before him, and no one would notice the other qualities she had because she wasn't "smart" or "gorgeous". No one would make her text them when she got home so they knew she was safe…

Yes, Darcy decided one night when she dragged Jane to bed and went home alone of the subway at 2 in the morning, wishing someone would care if she didn't turn up to work the next day or got murdered on the street, Phil was the best father figure she'd ever had in her life and although it was brief, and she'd never told anyone, she cared deeply for the older man. Her heart broke silently when she walked the empty dark alley that led to her building, she would never meet anyone like him again.

She stared at the moving colors on the TV, not really taking them in. Her lips pulled tightly across her teeth as a sob wracked through her chest. Her face was hot, cheeks red with distress and the screen felt comforting against her face.

"Why can I see you? It's cruel. I miss you so much." She whispered, her breathing becoming more erratic as she spoke. "Why can't you really be here? I know you'd be able to help me." She took a deep breath in, trying to calm herself. "Please…" She hissed at the screen. "I need your help… I need you…"

There was a loud buzz at the door that made Darcy jump and pull away from the TV set. She stood up quickly, her head feeling dizzy from the sudden movement as she looked at the door in horror.

Loki.

She'd completely forgotten their date!

"Shit." She muttered, turning her attention to the wall of pictures and articles she had about everyone on the wall. "Fuck!" Darcy grabbed a conveniently folded up white board and covered the majority of the stalker like notes before ripping down the rest and shoving them behind it.

"Just a minute!" She shouted loud enough, hoping Loki could hear her and wasn't getting impatient. After another minute of frantic and panicked hiding, Darcy finally managed to open the door, face flushed red and breathing heavy. "Hello."

Loki stood on the other side in a black suit, his hands tucked neatly into his trouser pockets and an eyebrow raised at her frantic look. Darcy was tempted to bang her head on the door frame.

"Is there a problem?" He asked calmly, but Darcy could sense the restrained anger in his tone.

"No! Come in." Stepping to one side of the door, Darcy tried to ignore the way a pulse of heat shot to her belly button when the side of his arms brushed hers. Fuck, he looked stunning in the suit. Did he know how sexy he looked right now?

Loki turned around once in the apartment and tilted his head to the side to look at her. She caught a familiar glint in his eyes, just like the first time they met in that meeting. Bastard, he knew how hot he looked, and judging from his expression, he also knew how it was affecting her.

"Forgive me, but when I said wear something you can move in, I didn't mean move house." Darcy gasped and checked out her comfy jeans and t-shirt, she felt silly at the shocking contrast between outfits.

"I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me, but I've been so busy that I didn't realize the time." She tried to explain, glancing over at her white board to double check nothing odd was showing.

"I'll keep note to bring up your time management skills at your next review." Darcy matched his smile as she slowly shut the door behind her.

"That, sir, wouldn't be very nice." She teased, motioning for him to have a seat on the sofa as she stepped closer. She angled her head so she could look up at him, gosh, she'd almost forgotten how tall he was.

"Who said I was nice?" Loki joked back, his face tilting down towards hers.

Darcy had seen this scene play out before. In a movie, this is the moment where the sexual tension and curiosity becomes too much and the two main characters can no longer hold back their passion and kiss. She was about an arm's length from him, yet it felt too intimate yet not close enough; her feet were placed firmly on the floor and yet her hands were itching to move forward, to touch him, to pull him towards her. Darcy had seen enough TV shows to know the frustration of two main characters that should just kiss and have sex but never did, but she'd never been in this situation before. She now understood all those 'near-misses' because it wasn't just a moment of weakness, there were hundreds of reasons why she shouldn't do this and temptation wasn't strong enough to outweigh them. It was a sad moment when she took a step back and looked down at her feet. She didn't want to see Loki's face at her rejection.

Darcy knew this was wrong, those hundreds of reasons now flashing like neon signs in her head, he's evil, he killed Coulson, this isn't real, he's an freakin' alien god! Were just the first few details that came to mind. But Loki had gotten under her skin in this short period of time and although she knew this date wouldn't help matters, she just couldn't _not_ do it. Darcy finally glanced up at him and saw a similar look of confusion and frustration etched on his striking features. Yep, she imagined he was feeling pretty similar right now.

"You're nice. You may try and hide it but, you, Loki Odinson, are a good guy." Was she trying to convince herself or him of that fact?

"Go get dressed." He said flatly in response and Darcy bit her lip to hide a smile as she quickly shot out the room to get ready.

"Make yourself at home!" She called over her shoulder as she shut herself in the bedroom.

Stripping from her casual clothes, she prayed there was a formal dress of some kind in her wardrobe, and to her luck there was. Her hair looked acceptable, though she still sprayed moose into her palm and scrunched the curly waves into a more dramatic style. She hadn't done this since high school, dressed up for a guy… She thought with a strange amusement, but what a guy to dress up for though!

Darcy paused at the mirror, her deep red lipstick held up ready to be used as she looked into her own made-up eyes. Loki was fascinating to her. He was lonely and sad yet angry and completely powerful, which only made her more interested. Darcy didn't know how it happened but she always seemed to be in the right place and the right time when it came to being close to people of high importance and power. She befriended a god, got in good with the top secret agent man at S.H.I.E.L.D less than a week after moving in, now she was living under the biggest name in money and fame's roof, Tony Stark along with the rest of the Avengers. Darcy certainly didn't seek out power and strength, but it seemed to be a recent development in her life and that came with risks, she knew that, but looking at Loki, the self-conscious tortured soul that was finally opening up to someone, her... it was hard to think of the danger anymore. She related to him more than anyone else she'd ever met, even more so than Clint who the only other orphan she'd met in her adult life.

Loki was lost and confused, his anger at his parents was both justified, because of their lies, and irrational, because of the love they showered him with, which left him in an awkward middle ground where he was constantly repressing himself and his feelings around the people he loved. Darcy understood that feeling, having worked through her own feelings for her mother, who died trying to save Darcy's life which left her to grow up alone, her absent father who never knew she existed so her anger in him coming to rescue her from the orphanage was irrational. She knew that these emotions were exactly the same the Loki in her reality felt, only he went way over the top and decided to try and enslave Earth as a result. This Loki was much more stable and Darcy could see him already overcoming the betrayal and hurt, becoming health in his mind and opening up to her. She felt saddened that Loki in her world wasn't anywhere near close to this resolution, yet guilty that she was connecting to him here as if things would be the same when she managed to fix things.

It was silly and she was only setting herself up for disappointment. But she wanted things to be okay for Loki.

Her lipstick tube was cold in her hand. She really liked him. She was attracted to him in a way she'd never been interested in a man before. This was more than the crush she had on Clint, she felt a connection to the Asgardian trapped in this human body, it was quick and passionate and she was scared about what that meant for her when things went back to normal. This Loki was only temporary, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Darcy grabbed a clutch bag and popped the lipstick in it and headed to the door, feeling prepared for the date physically. Mentally she was still having doubts if this was a good idea.

Loki was sitting patiently on her sofa, looking completely out of place in her apartment as he stared at the TV screen she had manically clutched at fifteen minutes before hand. She swallowed and cleared her throat so he knew she had returned.

Eye bright and smiling, he stood up and straightened out non-existent wrinkles on his suit jacked before speaking. "You look beautiful."

She felt her face and hands get hot. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." She tried not to take his words too personally, she couldn't, shouldn't, feel this way about him. But this wasn't the Loki in she knew in her world, she reminded herself, her heart trying to argue with her brain. "Um, thanks for waiting." She stepped closer to him. "I just need to grab a few things and then we can head off." She popped open her purse and quickly shoved some things from her handbag into it, phone, money, keys. Then she closed it before flashing Loki a wide smile. "All done."

"Darcy, you don't have to spend this evening with me if you don't wa-" Loki began, his words heavy, making Darcy's heart swell up.

"Loki, I want to go on a date with you. There is honestly, nowhere else I'd rather be this evening." Her hand found its way onto his arm, squeezing gently on the muscle underneath his expensive suit. It wasn't a lie and that frightened her.

Loki's eyes blazed and his gaze dropping to her pale hand over his dark suit then back up to her red stained lips. Darcy wanted to gasp at how intense his gaze was but couldn't, she just stood still, mouth agape, looking at his eyes that were looking at her mouth.

Yep, she was totally fucked.

"Shoes!" She said suddenly, breaking whatever spell Loki was transfixed in. "I don't have any... shoes..." She finished lamely, blushing at how stupid she sounded.

"Shoes." Loki echoed, his eyebrow rose suspiciously at her before looking at her bare feet. "You probably need some." He said dryly.

"Probably." She muttered sheepishly, cursing herself at how poorly she was handling her emotions. She scurried off into her bedroom again and came out with a black pair to match her dress. "Okay, let's go." She announced cheerfully, pushing down on her fear and telling herself to just enjoy tonight, after all, she didn't know how much longer she'd be here with him and she should really have fun while it lasted, after all, gorgeous billionaires weren't exactly lining around the corner to ask her on dates in the real world.

Darcy knew Loki probably thought she was bi-polar when she grabbed his hand and tugged him towards her front door. "So, am I allowed to know where we're going yet?"

"Not yet." Loki suppressed a smirk; his glanced around at her hallway as they descended the stairs, a look of concern on his features that Darcy wanted to wipe off. "Is this the best place you can afford with your wage?"

Darcy nearly tripped over her feet, she knew next to nothing on her counter parts financial status, only that she kept a lot of cash in her purse which made Darcy's life the past few days a lot easier than it could have been. She thought back to meeting an old work colleague in the hallway the other day and smiled at Loki.

"No, I could live somewhere nicer, but this is big enough for one in central Manhattan, and I knew someone in the building already so it was perfect for me." Darcy lied smoothly.

Loki took a moment to consider her answer. "I'm giving you a raise." Loki decided out loud, she didn't know if he was joking or not but it didn't matter. She slapped him lightly on the arm in disapproval.

"No you are not! Now tell me where we're going." Said whined, giving a fake pout as she pushed open the buildings front door and stepped out into the warm evening air.

Loki lowered her face towards her, looking dangerous and sexy all at once. It was Darcy's turn to look down at his lips. He smelled so good. Like spice and wood and mint. She wanted to see if his lips tasted the same. "Patience is a virtue." He teased, his cool breath mingling with hers.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Darcy had lived in dodgy parts of New York for months so yelling and cursing at night-time on the street was easy to ignore now, but this voice was familiar and she felt dread creep up her veins. She knew exactly who she was going to see when she turned away from Loki.

Loki had his arms tightly wrapped around her waist in a heartbeat and spun her around behind his body, which Darcy would have thought was terribly caveman like of him if Jake hadn't charged at them both a moment later, his hands clenched into fists as he swung at them.

Xxxxxx

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I know, I know. This was a bit of a soppy chapter, not much Darcy/Loki goodness. That will certainly change by the next chapter! Trust me. Sorry if it was too boring :-(

Please review, I love reading about all your thoughts and comments. And even one or two words really make my day!

So please please please take a moment to pop in a few words in the big white box below and hit 'Post Review'. I cannot thank you enough!

Thanks for sticking with me and reading!

Charlie


	7. Chapter 7

Suspend My Disbelief

Xxxxxx

* * *

Once again, sorry for the slow update. I have given my Beta, the lovely SleepieSandy permission to pester me and yell at me until I get my as in gear and work on this story more so updates should be as slow as they have been.

Thank you to all of you that have stuck around and are still reading this, I just hope it's worth the wait!

Xxxxxx

* * *

Chapter 7

Loki's head snapped sideways as Jake punched him. Luckily he'd managed to move back just enough that most of Jake's aim was wrong and off center, but the edge of his fist was enough to throw Loki off guard and stepping backwards to maintain his footing.

Darcy screamed behind him and grabbed Loki's arms, trying to make sure he was okay and get between the two men, but Loki was stronger and faster, while Jake was strong, he lacked the ability to recover from an attack as quickly as Loki and Loki used that to his advantage as his hands formed into their own fists and hit the shorter but heavier man.

Jake stumbled down a few steps at the entrance of Darcy's building in the unexpected retaliation. He clutched his jaw and yelled at them, spit flying out of his injured mouth as a snarl formed on his face. Darcy flinched at the monster like expression Jake wore but her feet didn't move as she faced him.

"You fucking bitch!" He spat on the floor, a mixture of blood and spit hit the ground and Darcy winced at how disgusting he was. How unlike a gentleman he was behaving outside in the street. It make Darcy cringe out of embarrassment for him. "Was this all some twisted lie so you could go and fuck other men?" Loki's arms tensed at the accusations, she noticed and Darcy wanted to hide upstairs in her flat but couldn't leave Jake when he was acting like this. She owed him an explaination, true, but that didn't mean he had any right to intrude on her home and punch her- she stopped that trail of thought. Her friend, she corrected internally.

"I can assure you, Jake, Darcy and I are just-" Loki was surprisingly calm for a man that was just in a fist fight, face still red from where the shorter mans fist had connected.

"Bullshit! She's just a fucking whore."

"Jake, go away, I told you I never wanted to see you again, so why the fuck are you even here?" Darcy cried out, grabbing onto Loki's arm as he rubbed his sore jaw and standing in front of him.

"Because, _Darcy_," His voice was mocking and Darcy felt her anger increase at his tone. She was _not_ his to worry about and treat like a child. "I called your mother, she's worried but I can see this is just some fucked up scheme to get me out of the way. If you wanted to see other people you could have just ended it! Geez, not make up some crazy amnesia bullshit!" Darcy stiffened. His words were angry and vicious, but that's not what caused her to freeze, panic washing over her like an ice cold bucket of water.

Her mother? Did he just say her mother?

Her mother was alive.

Her mother was alive!

Darcy couldn't breathe. Did this mean her father was here as well? She wanted to be hopeful, but right now she could only think of her mother, alive and well and contactable! She felt stupid for not even looking in her phones address book to see if 'Mom' or 'Dad' were in there, but then again, she'd never had to call them before...

Loki must have sensed her shock, but mistook it for fear of Jake's volatile words, ushering her behind him again and confronting Jake, Darcy let herself be moved, still reeling from this new information.

"I think you better leave." Loki paused, as if reconsidering his words. "It would be wise for you to leave." His voice low and menacing.

"You're gonna have your hands full with this one. It's the smart ones that are mental!" Jake warned, backing away from them.

Darcy watched in shock as Loki leapt forward and grabbed Jake by the collar of his shirt with his left hand and slammed his fist into Jake's cheekbone with his right.

"Fuck." Darcy said to herself, snapping out of her daze watching the scene unfold. The old lady from the apartment block next to hers had peered out of the window sill again and was yelling down at Loki in encouragement.

"Kick his ass! Worthless jerk." Darcy glared up at the older woman and rolled her eyes.

"Loki. Stop!" She rushed down the stairs and grabbed Loki's suit sleeve just after he'd hit her ex once again, tugging on it to get him to stop and move away from Jake, who was now lying on the floor; Loki looming over him and continuing to beat the living crap out of him. "Loki! Please." She begged. He halted his actions and turned to look down at her, his chest heaving as his fierce green eyes penetrated into her wide frightened blue. "Please..." She whispered, her hands reaching to cover his bloody fist.

His breathing calmed, becoming less frantic as his eyes softened. He nodded slowly at her request and they began to walk away from Jake.

"She's not even a good fuck, dude! Totally not worth the trouble." Jake decided to interrupt.

Darcy growled and let go of Loki's hands, turning back around to Jake's bloodied pretty boy face. She pressed her hand to Loki's chest to stop him from following her as her heels clicked on the sidewalk until she was directly in front of Jake; he was on his knees, one hand on the floor and the other on his damaged face. Halfway between recovering and standing up.

Darcy leaned down, her face looking down at his with a curious look before her lips twisted in a smirk as she stroked the unharmed side of his jaw. "Sweetie, I'm the best fuck you'll never have." She quickly stood up and pulling her leg back, she gave a swift kick in his ribs.

Jake fell back to the floor, hard. Letting out a groan as he rolled over onto his side, clutching his chest.

Serves him fucking right.

Darcy, satisfied but still a little fearful of her actions practically ran over to Loki and pulled him into the apartment block, ignoring the cheers from the little old lady who lived one block over. There was a wicked grin on her face as they ran up the stairs together that they had only descended minutes before.

She slammed the door behind them and bolted it shut, pressing her back against the frame as she laughed, adrenaline was pumping in her veins and she wanted to scream out loud! Yell about how awesome they were and dance, but her legs were shaking too much for dancing and she was grinning too widely to do anything else but laugh.

"I can't believe I just did that!" Darcy cried out in disbelief, running a hand over her face, unable to stop grinning. Loki was out of breath as well, standing a couple feet from her with an equally shocked and amused expression on his face. "I can't believe _you_ did that!" Darcy laughed, motioning towards his hands and realizing just how splattered with blood they were. "Oh shit, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" She suddenly sobered, looking between his hands and the already reddened mark just on the bottom edge of his jaw.

Loki followed her line of sight and brought his hand up to his face to inspect the damage of both in more detail. "I don't think it's mine." He said, referring to the blood, but he sounded perplexed by the red on his knuckles. Had he never been in a fight before? She guessed he wasn't used to this either. Darcy was certainly surprised that the God of Mischief, who started a war on not one, but two worlds, had never been in a fist fight. She almost wanted to laugh again. Then again, Loki didn't strike her as the kind of hand-to-hand combat kind, he used those tiny little throwing knives in battles on Asgard or wherever, she remembered Thor joking about how puny they were, then Clint explaining the benefits of distance weapons over close range ones. Boy, that was a long movie night... ending in Natasha smacking Clint around the head when he tried to organize a fight between himself and the God of Thunder to prove his point. No, Loki was not a one on one fighter in her reality and even less so in this one judging by his even paler face.

"Come on, sit down and I'll grab a first aid kit or something." Darcy watched as he walked around the sofa and sat down in a haze. Yep, Loki was not a fighter, which only made his physical confrontation more meaningful.

She was grateful to her other self for having the common sense to store a first aid kit in the kitchen, albeit the only thing she had in her kitchen. She rushed back over to him and sat directly in front of him by perching on the coffee table. Darcy rested the kit on the table next to her and delicately took his right hand in her left and placed it on her lap and started to clean the blood off his skin, finding out that he was right, it mostly wasn't his.

"Thank you." She said after a long silence. She was officially down from her adrenaline high, now full of regret and embarrassment.

"That's quite alright, Darcy." The warmth and softness of his voice surprised her and her grasp on his fingers tightened slightly.

"No really, you didn't have to..."

"I wanted to." Loki interrupted. "I couldn't let him talk about you like that."

Darcy smoothed over a small bandage she had taped over a cut knuckle. His hand was cool in hers. She expected him to be hot, after all that activities of the evening, yet he was chilled. She looked up, their eyes meeting for a split second before she looked down again, like a magnetic resistance.

"But you didn't have to hurt yourself-"

Loki's other hand found her chin and pulled her gaze back up to his. "Darcy. I would do so much more than that for you."

His fingers guided her mouth to his, their lips touching in the briefest of touches. She pulled back, stunned. Their breath mingling. Mint. He tasted of mint.

"Loki..." She whispered tentatively. Her forehead crinkling with... with confusion? No, it was obvious he liked her and she'd seen enough cheesy tv shows to know that after a fight the adrenaline ran high and kissing usually ensued. So why was she so baffled by his kiss? Was it because she genuinely wanted to kiss him? Was it because she knew what he was really like and it certainly wasn't _this_? Leaning away from him and analyzed his face. His eyes were wide and searching, their infinite green were full of hope, fear, desperation and something dangerous, like if she rejected him then it wouldn't end well. He looked at her afraid, she was both real and not real. Like he wanted her to just be a dream but also not... Darcy couldn't see one hint of the Asgardian she was warned about. But then again, maybe she just didn't want to.

She reached up and pushed her fingers through his now messed up hair, taking pleasure in how his breath hitched at the action. She pushed his knees apart with hers and settled in between his legs as she held his head in place. Leaning slowly forward, she took her time to watch his eyes trail her face as she had just done. This was it. She knew there was no going back now, this was the craziest, stupidest, wildest thing she'd ever done, and this was a girl who took an internship in the asshole of nowhere about something she had no clue about just to get more credits.

Fuck it. This wasn't real anyway. Why can't she just enjoy herself?

Because it feels real. Darcy's head reminded her, because she had to live with the memories of this night for the rest of her life while the others involved didn't.

Then who is she really hurting? Her heart pumped harder as she inched closer to him, her lips hovering over his less than an inch away now. She could live with this for the rest of her life, she decided as her mouth covered his again.

It was delicate like before, but that didn't last long, soon she was pushing her lips harder into his, her tongue searching for his as she moaned her pleasure. Loki was a skilled kisser, knowing exactly how much to give without it being too much and taking little stops to nip at her bottom lip that made her gasp and he started to explore her open mouth with his tongue again. His hand gripped tightly but not roughly at the nape of her neck, so he could control the kiss and Darcy was more than willing to let him. She tiled her head to the right to get more access while Loki's hand dropped from her neck and rested on her waist, pulling her body closer to his on the sofa. It didn't take more than that for Darcy to climb on his lap, her dress rising up to gather around her thighs.

"Fuck." Loki growled as her hips grinded with him. He tilted his head back to gain some kind of self-control but Darcy took that opportunity to attack his neck with kisses and licks, delicately biting and sucking several places until she was happy he lost all control he tried to maintain. His bucked his hips into hers and she was pleased at her success.

"Oh…" She groaned as the heat pooling between her legs was pulsating at an alarming intensity. "Loki…"

He looked up at her, sitting in his lap, her lips full and hair messy from kissing. He looked up at her like she was Goddess and Darcy knew then that she would never forget this night. She caught his open mouth with hers and combined the manic kissing with slow movements of her hips against his. She was very aware of how hard he was and she loved grinding against it through the thin material of her panties. She had never felt so turned on from a bit of kissing before! But she'd never wanted to be kissing a man as much as now either.

"I need you." She muttered against his lips and it was all Loki needed to push her legs around his waist then wrap his arms around hers and stand up.

Darcy let out a small yelp at how strong he was but his husky voice distracted her. "Bedroom?"

"Anywhere." She replied, her voice husky, but looked over at the door that led to her untouched bed.

This was so wrong! Her mind screamed but her body was already too sensitive and was craving his touch. He carried her to the room, kicking open the door and closing it shut with one foot, a skill Darcy loved for some reason and giggled with excitement.

He slowly placed her on the bed, far too carefully for her liking. She sat up and it was her time to look up at the God and admire him. She smiled wickedly and pulled him closer by his belt, not losing eye contact the whole time as she undid the buckle, then the top button of his pants… She slowly, teasingly, slid the zipper down and she watched with amusement as Loki covered his face with both hands and swore into them. Yep, he certainly had no control over this anymore, she thought, pleased.

She wasn't sure if the boxer briefs surprised her or not, but this wasn't the time for that, Darcy decided while her hands found what she was after, and boy, was she pleased with what she found.

Loki was certainly a God. She thought with a smirk as one hand stroked his hard length, and the other pushed her hair over one shoulder. Leaning forward she gave a long, slow lick on the underside of him, her hands coming to rest on his still cloth covered thighs.

"Darcy… you don't…" He started to speak when she caused to him to stop and gasp by taking him deep in her mouth quickly and suddenly. "Fuck!" He groaned again, a hand finding its way into her messy hair and holding her head firmly as he hit the back of her throat. "Fuck…" He whimpered now and if her lips weren't already busy, she would have smirked.

Darcy pulled back, needing to breath and worried her gag reflex wouldn't cope and wrapped her hand over his base and began to pump while her lip covered the tip of his penis and her tongue darted around it in glee. She wanted to look up at him and see his expression as she took fast hard pumps followed by slow long ones, releasing the tip from her mouth and letting her tongue explore other parts of his manhood. At one point she though Loki was going to pull her hair out from is tight grasp, she guessed he liked it when she played with his balls, she thought with a smirk.

"Stop, Darcy. Or I'll…" She wanted to continue, to make him cum first, but he didn't like that idea and business man Loki always got what he wanted. He pushed Darcy back, not happy with her fully dressed state; he pulled her up only to reach down and whipped her dress off over her head in one smooth but planned out motion. She laughed at his skill as he threw the black material as far away from them as he could. "This, I like." He muttered, his hands running over the black lace of her bra. "But it needs to go." He twisted open the hook and Darcy let it fall to the ground. Darcy watched his eyes rack over her nearly naked body and bit her lip in anticipation. She wasn't worried about her appearance, she knew she was curvy, she had larger than average breasts for someone of her size which only emphasised how curvy she truly was. She wondered what Loki might be thinking as he got that look on his face again, the one where he wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. It didn't last for long.

He pulled his shirt off over his head and Darcy snapped into gear when she was faced with his abs. Compact, was the first word that popped into her mind. She was tempted to stick her tongue out and lick them, but decided that was best left for another time and pulled his pants down until they were bunched up around his ankles. He kicked them off easily and quickly pulled of his socks with a bit too much hast then turned his attention back to her now that they were both nearly naked. He gently guided her back on the bed, pushing her shoulders down so she was fully on her back. He ran his hands over the length of her stretched out body, exploring the angle of her shoulders, the weight of her breasts, the dip of her waist and finally, the wet heat of her womanhood beneath the thin lace of her panties. Darcy gasped when his fingers danced over her area but never dipping in. The men she'd been with before had always skipped over this bit, finding her wet and ready to go meant they just went for the kill, figuratively. No, Loki smiled up at her, his face showing just how pleased he was at her body's reaction to him.

"I like this." He said, his eyes crinkled up at the edges.

"Like what?" Darcy asked, her voice hoarse but more confident that she usually was with a man in bed.

"You. Wet. For me." He answered slowly and Darcy had to stifle a moan with her hand when she felt him slowly slide her underwear off her hips and down her legs.

He pushed her knees open like she had earlier with him, and Darcy was about to look down at him when she felt his hair brush the inner thigh. Fuck! Was he? She had her answer a second later when his tongue pressed against the apex of her thighs. His fucking amazing tongue! Darcy's mind sang as he circled her clit and stroked her center with one hand, the other gripping her thigh. His attention was undivided and completely overwhelming. He pulled back and blew causing her to shiver before his lips found her again, hot and cold. It was hard for Darcy not to squeeze his head with her thighs as his teeth nipped her clit lightly. Fuck. She didn't know if she wanted this slow torture to stop or consume her but her stomach muscles clenched uncontrollably and she was at the point of insanity when she had to grab a fistful of his hair to get him to pause otherwise she'd have gone mad. His chucked into her thighs and Darcy threw her head back, a whimper escaping her throat at the sensation of his mouth vibrating in her most intimate area.

"Fuck, Loki. I need you." When he didn't immediately move, she propped herself up on an unsteady elbow. "I just... need you in me now." She practically growled, grasping the side of his face, guiding his mouth back to hers. He smirked into her mouth but pulled away.

"Condom." He explained when she glared at him.

"I don't have any." There was a pause that made Darcy hate each second that ticked by. "I'm clean. On the pill too." She volunteered, feeling like a needy horny teenager as she did.

There was some kind of internal struggle behind Loki's eyes that Darcy once again wished she could hear, but a moment later Loki's weight was on top of her again in a fantastically suffocating way.

"I'm clean."

They returned to their heated battle of teeth and tongue before he found the perfect position on top of her, her legs carefully hooked around his to give him the best access.

Loki's hair had completely fallen out of its perfect style and black tendrils framed his face, Darcy wanted to take a mental picture of how perfect this moment was. She nodded encouragement to him, needing him completely which he still denied her, choosing to run his hand up and down her arms, littering soft kisses on random parts of her exposed skin. She relaxed into his easily given caresses, she'd never been worshiped like this in bed before, it was new and exciting and every nerve stood to attention as he slowly adjusted their position and pushed into her.

Darcy opened her mouth, her gasp muted by Loki's lips on hers, giving her a hard open mouthed kiss. It was unhurried again, she was happy to revel in the feel of him inside her, stretching her in magnificent ways and they soon found a rhythm that matched each other's. It had been so long since she'd been with a guy, she knew this would leave her sore tomorrow, but it was the least of her worries right now. Darcy shifted her hips slightly to get a more comfortable angle and Loki tensed above her at the movement.

"What? Sorry, did I…" Darcy began to apologize.

"No, it's not you… It's just been a while." He explained. "I'm not sure how much more of you I can take." He admitted, squeezing his eyes shut before exhaling and Darcy wasn't sure if he just meant sex.

"That's alright. We still have all night." She teased, moving her hips in the same way again.

"Fuck." He groaned through gritted teeth and Darcy reached up to stroke his shoulders and biceps as he thrust into her, faster than before.

"Oh shit!" Darcy cried, knowing the familiar building up sensation she felt in the bottom of her stomach. "I'm so close, Loki. Please…" She didn't know why she was begging, he wasn't stopping, but her words seemed to push him so close to the edge that he reached down and began to brush over her sensitive clit again with the tip of one finger. "Fuck, Loki! Please…" She whined, her palm covering her mouth as moans she couldn't control escaped.

It took a few more deep angled thrusts and perfectly executed teasing of her clit and Darcy felt her internal muscles squeeze and pulsate around him. Her legs tightly wrapped around his hips, ankles crossed as she tried to pull him in closer to her. Deeper. Her toes curled as she pushed him further into her, her thighs shook under the wave of pleasure and her stomach muscles clenched and relaxed randomly as she rode out her orgasm. She didn't know what to do with her arms, so they continued to touch, squeeze and stroke Loki until she was in a bit more control of her tremors, finally they ended up wrapped around his shoulders, sleek with sweat. She pulled him lower and pressed a hard closed mouthed kiss against his lips, moaning as she felt him shift inside her.

"Fuck. I mean, wow…" Darcy breathed, smiling blissfully up at the man who made her lose control. "You are amazing." Rewarding him with a desperate kiss.

Loki's head dropped, and for a second Darcy thought it was modesty until she noticed exactly where he was looking, where they were joined. She smiled, enjoying his excitement as well as her own. His hands roamed over her body, squeezing her hips, cupping her breasts, tracing invisible patterns on her sensitive skin until she stopped panting from her orgasm.

"I think it's your turn now, buddy boy." Darcy teased, running her still slightly unsteady hands over his bare chest, tracing a finger down his sternum then around his abs and turning their positions on the bed around so she straddled his lap. She turned her hips in a small circular motion and Loki buried his head further back into the soft duvet in response. Darcy wanted to laugh, but she was still incredibly delicate from her own climax that it was becoming more and more difficult to control the after waves of it as her clit rubbed on his coarse pubic hair.

She reached down and rested her hands on his shoulders to get a better angle and started to ride up and down on his cock until he was gripping her hips so tightly with his fingers that she imagined there would be bruises tomorrow. Good, she thought with a wicked smile, she wanted proof while there still was some. His hips jerked up unexpectedly which made Darcy reach to grip the headboard to meet their erratic thrusts.

"I'm close…" He muttered, eyes fluttering shut as he looked up at the ceiling before focusing on her again. "Fuck, Darcy. I've wanted you for so long." He stilled her hips with his hands, wanting to fuck her hard himself. Loki pumped up into her roughly a few times, groaning as he did so, Darcy stayed still, not wanting to move from where he wanted her. Fuck, he looked gorgeous as he came undone beneath her. She wanted to reach down at kiss him but gave it a moment until he'd ridden out the orgasm like she had.

She lowered her upper body down and leaned forward so their chests were pressed together. "You okay?" She asked after a moment, smiling up at him from where her chin rested on his chest. Loki's fingers were biting into her hips still but the grasp wasn't as tight as before; they slowly let go and ran up her spine, stroking her soft skin as if she would disappear if he stopped touching her.

"More than okay. You?" She was sure her grin was a big as his.

"Oh, no, that was terrible." Darcy said, her smile not budging. "I think, as a service to woman everywhere, I will save them from ever sex with you by taking the bullet myself." She turned her face to rest on his chest. Both of them were a little damp from sweat but she didn't want to move. Didn't want to lose the feeling of him inside her.

"That's quite a sacrifice, Dr. Lewis." Loki joined her teasing.

She let out a long sigh and rubbed her thumb over his nipple next to where her face rested. "I'm prepared for it. No one should have to suffer this."

Loki's chest and stomach convulsed with laughter. "You'll fall on the sword, so to speak?"

Darcy moaned in agreement. "A sword like yours?" She wiggled her hips to make a point while he was still inside her. "Just try and stop me."

Loki laughed again and threw his head back into her pillows. "You are a strange one."

"Says the man who just slept with me…" She licked a trail around his nipple and blew lightly on it, watching with fascination as the skin shifted and tightened even more. Payback.

"Well, I'll certainly have to mention this at my next visit to Dr. Banner. "Doctor, I'm worried about my mental health, I only want to have sex with unpredictable, yet incredibly intelligent people", I wonder what that says about me."

"Probably, that I shouldn't leave you and Tony Stark alone in a room together." Darcy mused aloud. Earning a tensed reaction from Loki and a stern look.

"I think that's a good idea for many reasons." Loki said as he stroked Darcy's hair which was splayed out along her back and his chest.

"Why don't you like him?" Darcy asked quietly. Tony was an ass in her world, but he was still a decent guy, a hero.

"Many reasons."

"Name one."

"Did you know he had a daughter?" Loki looked down at her, his forehead crinkled up. Darcy shook her head at the new information. "Illegitimate, of course. He abandoned her and her mother, claiming the mothers mental instability was enough of a reason to throw the case out of court before a paternity test could ever be done." Darcy's stomach dropped. Was this the same in her reality? So many things were different here yet others were identical. Her mother was alive here and she was some kind of genius scientist, completely unbelievable, yet Loki was still struggling with his family issues, Jane and Thor were obviously attracted to each other, and Darcy's music collection was still pretty awesome. She didn't know what else translated to her real world anymore. She hoped the Tony Stark she knew wouldn't have done this, but she also knew what a rebel and playboy he was in his youth so she guessed this wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

"That's awful." Darcy muttered sadly.

"Exactly. Yet he's viewed as some hero. A man should never abandon his family like that. He should have at least found out the truth first." Loki frowned and Darcy kissed his chest lightly, trying to comfort his anger. She knew this ran deeper than just Tony Stark. Loki had abandonment problems of his own so confronted with people that had abandoned others? It obviously brought up some unresolved issues.

"Maybe he had no choice?" The words were spoken before she could stop them. "I mean, a guy like Tony, he must have lawyers coming out of his ass, I imagine the case was thrown out before Tony even knew about it..." She tried to justify her logic.

"Perhaps, but he had 25 years after that to find out. I don't know how a man can live without knowing... knowing if he had a family or not." He swallowed hard and Darcy gave a small hum in agreement, finding it strange that the God of Lies wanted the truth so badly. She shifted, his now softened member sliding out of her easily, leaving her empty and cold and a bit sticky as she rolled onto the bed next to him. Her arms curled around herself, feeling very naked all of a sudden.

Loki turned on his side to look at her, his hand stroking her arm as goose bumps rose on her skin. "Imagine if that was you... rejected and alone..." Despite his comforting stroking, she only felt colder and more ill at ease.

"It could be..." She murmured, looking down at his hand touching her. "I didn't know my dad... my mom wasn't there..." She made sure to word it carefully. She still needed to process that in this world her mother was alive; despite telling Loki she'd died... she had some explaining to do and was surprised he hadn't brought it up yet. "I'm not justifying Tony Stark's actions, hell, I'm still angry at my absent dad for not rescuing me from my terrible childhood, but that's his life, Loki. Why do you care so much?"

Loki's eyes hardened, his hand froze on her arm, and she watched as his body tensed. He looked as if he was battling his own emotions and Darcy understood that feeling, it scared her. What was he hiding? What was the real reason behind this story that made him hate Tony Stark?

"You don't know, do you?" Loki rolled onto his back and covered his face with his hands. "Fuck. I thought... I mean I understand why someone would want to keep it a secret but..." Loki hastily got off of the bed and hurriedly picked his underwear and pants off the floor. Darcy watched in silent confusion as he pulled his trousers on.

"Loki, what are you doing? I don't know what you're talking about." Darcy grabbed a blanket and covered the front of her body in a panic. Was he leaving?

"Why do you think Tony wants this merger, Darcy?" Loki hissed at her like she was a child.

"The laser..."

"No! That cave, he didn't come out looking at the stars, he came out looking for the daughter he never wanted until then."

Darcy stared blankly at him, blinking in confusion. "Why are you so pissed about that? It's nice that he wants to find her." Her forehead furrowed. She still didn't understand why he as so emotional about this, or why Tony's search for his daughter involved her and Jane's work. Unless she was on Asgard... Darcy shook her head at how crazy that idea was. Still, Loki's rapid dressing and angry expression caused her to fill with dread. "I mean, it's not like you know who she is...do you?"

His posture shifted and Darcy gasped at how his demeanour suddenly reminded her of the Loki she'd seen pictures of in her world. Dangerous. Frantic. She edged to the side of the bed furthest away from him. "Darcy..." He breathed, lowering his arms that were currently buttoning up his shirt so they hung at his sides. "Let's have some dinner."

Darcy nodded slowly; glad he wasn't as angry as before but still walking on egg shells. She felt her stomach lurch at the mention of food and realized how hungry she was.

"I'll order take-out. Is Thai okay?" Loki asked softly, he knelt onto the mattress and caught Darcy's chin in his fingers. He carefully lifted her face until it was directed at his and placed a very delicate kiss on her mouth. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to explode like that." Darcy nodded again, their faces still close that their noses brushed at her movement. "It's something Dr. Banner and I are still working on." He explained.

"Anger management with Bruce Banner?" Darcy had to stop herself from laughing but couldn't suppress a smile. "That's a movie I'd pay to watch." Loki smiled back and leaned in for another light kiss before getting off the bed and heading to the door.

As the door shut behind him, Darcy was left feeling a little better about Loki but still had the unsettling feeling that she was missing something. Was this daughter important to Loki? Is that why he was so angry about Tony's sudden wish to be part of her life? Darcy looked down at the messy sheets, running her hand over the wrinkled soft material. Maybe it was because he had been given up, abandoned as a baby and the idea of actually knowing someone who did exactly the same thing made him face feelings he wasn't prepared to handle.

But that still didn't explain Tony's sudden interest in Einstein-Rosen Bridges and why Loki was so adamant to say no to the merger. Darcy got dressed slowly, nipping into her bathroom and running a damp cloth over her body before deciding against wearing her dress and choosing some jeans and a baggy jumper instead. She bit her lip as she tried to arrange her hair into something that looked less... less like she'd just been fucked...

Fuck... she had just slept with a God! Not only a God but an unstable, semi-reformed God of Lies and Mischief that had tried to kill her and her friends.

She really wished she could call Jane right now, but the Jane she knew here wouldn't be able to help. Darcy's teeth bit down hard on her lip until it hurt. She needed to sort this out, and quickly. She could already feel herself drowning in Loki, and after that amazing sex... where he'd practically worshiped her, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stop herself from succumbing to these feelings.

Fuck. She wished she could separate feelings from sex but she'd never been able to do that and it wasn't going to start now. She'd always jumped into relationships and sex too quickly before, then suffered the heart ache and embarrassment when she found out the guys never wanted more that 'friends with benefits' or a 'one night stand' and she was already halfway committed. Crazy ideas about a life they could share that she'd never had before only to have them dashed. Darcy sighed, on the outside she joked and acted nonchalant about sex, telling the college boys that that's what she wanted or whatever but inside, she could never quite get her feelings in the right place. Loki was a prime example of that. She wanted to forget about the Loki she knew about in her world and just have fun with this one while she could, but there was so much more to him that she couldn't just use him like that. She knew the second his lips touched hers that he would never just be some harmless fling, and his outburst earlier had proved that.

Darcy looked at the time, almost 10 o'clock. How had things changed so quickly? Then again, she should be used to things happening at warp speed when Loki or the Avengers were involved. Gathering her courage and trying as hard as she could to not think of the image of Loki's face between her thighs, Darcy opened the door and headed to the living room.

Her heart jumped into her throat when she remembered the hidden pictures and articles stashed behind that white board, but they were still out of sight; so her pulse slowed back to a regular pace. Loki was standing in her kitchen area, checking cupboards for plates; he'd already managed to find her silverware and place two sets of knives and forks on the kitchen island.

"You have nothing in this kitchen. How do you live?" Loki asked with a dramatic sigh.

"I order take-out a lot."

Loki took that opportunity to hold up the 3 day old pizza box in the air. "I can see that." He dropped in on another counter and Darcy just smiled sweetly at him and his disgusted expression. "Don't you ever cook?" She shook her head, in truth; Darcy cooked a lot in her reality. She often spent most evening when she wasn't babysitting her neighbours preparing food for hers and Jane's lunch the next day, making sure it was healthy, nutritious and delicious. Sometimes even little Sian came round to help her chop up vegetables so her mom could have a break and Darcy liked the company. But, Darcy here had bare shelves, not even herbs or spices that had long expiry dates as a sign she'd cooked at least once or twice. Darcy imagined herself in this world was a lot like Jane in hers, only without her own Darcy to look after her when she didn't eat or stayed awake until 4 o'clock in the morning looking at star charts.

"I don't get time." She lied, feebly. "Too busy."

"Then I'll have to give you more time off as well as a pay rise." Loki decided and leaned across the counter to place another light kiss on her forehead. Darcy closed her eyes and pressed closer to his lips.

"That sounds awfully uneconomical." Darcy hummed to herself, Loki merely chucked in response. This was nice. It was relaxed and easy now, not at all like her usual post-sex experiences.

"Well, you're worth it..." Loki pulled one plate from a shelf and hunted the rest of the cupboard but couldn't find another. "Why do you only own one plate?"

Darcy shrugged. "Because two would just be showing off?" She joked.

He turned to face her, a bemused but blissful look on his face.

"I don't mind sharing if you don't." She suggested.

He placed the plate between them on the counter, for a second Darcy wished he would lean over again and reward her with a kiss but he didn't, instead turning back to her cupboard and pulling out two wine glasses, odd from each other, and setting them up on their unorthodox dining table.

"You have one plate but two wine glasses? Where are your priorities?" She shrugged again and began to play with the fork he'd put out in front of her. "I can't imagine what Thor would make of this arrangement." Loki said, referring to their dinner.

"He'd probably be more proud that you got laid than how we're eating." That comment earned her a glare. "What? If I didn't know better, he would be envious that you got the astrophysicist you wanted before he did."

"He and Jane are pathetically adorable." Loki agreed, sounding unhappy with his own description of his brother and her friend.

"We should lock them up in a room together, maybe a lab experiment gone wrong kind of thing where they need to be quarantined together for 24 hours." She tapped the fork prongs on her bottom lip in contemplation.

"You are sneaky."

"Says you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The mock innocent expression he gave her wouldn't have convinced anyone.

"Come on, we'll record it all and watch as they blush and stuttered their way through their feelings until they finally just give in and fuck on a laboratory table."

"Why don't we not talk about my brother fornicating before dinner? I'd also rather we keep the sex on a laboratory table as an option for us, so don't ruin it."

Darcy blushed. "Whatever. We'd be like a crime-fighting team if they and the two of us hooked up. Only without the crime fighting... me and Jane will do science while you throw money at whoever was attacking us."

"That sounded like a great plan." Darcy stuck her tongue out at him but he just ignored her childish actions. "Pray tell, what would your 'science' entail and I doubt the villains would be put off with the offer of money. If anything, crime would rise at the reward we would be giving them."

"You have a good point. But I bet quarters would hurt like a bitch if you hit them in the right places."

A knock on the door interrupted them.

"I'll get it!" Darcy announced, jumping off her kitchen stool, grabbing her purse and running to the door. "Hello." She greeted the delivery boy who was holding a cardboard box and a small scrap of order paper.

"Odinson?"

"Yep, that's us!" Darcy grabbed the box that he offered and placed it on the small table next to the door. "How much do I owe you?"

"Er... Mr Odinson already paid..." The young boy looked around the edge of the door frame, eyes wide when he saw the dark haired man in the kitchenette. His suspicion confirmed, Loki gave the poor boy a wave with a pair of scissors in his hand. The boy gave a small yelp and hid back in the hallway.

"Don't scare people, Loki!" Darcy was still finding it hard to believe Loki and Thor were like Affleck brothers but in the business world or something. She gave a sympathetic smile to the young boy and wished him a good night before closing the door. She sent Loki a half-hearted glare but burst into laughter as he did his fake innocent face again. "That was cruel. Do you ever get fed up with that?"

"I tend not to notice it anymore. Plus, I have the image of 'dark and brooding brother' so people tend to leave me alone. Thor has always been better with the public than me."

"That must be hard for you to admit." She knew it was only what she knew of Loki in her world that made her say that. She realized her mistake too late but Loki just nodded along.

"Credit given when due. In all other areas, I am far superior than my brother." Loki said with a smirk and helped Darcy place the box on the kitchen counter next to their one plate.

"Did you order the whole restaurant?" she teased, pulling out a bottle of white wine that was lodged in the side and eyed the label. Darcy knew nearly nothing about wine but wanted to at least look like she was a grown up in front of the man she liked. Darcy tended to have the opinion that Riesling and Chardonnay were good, Pinot Grigio was okay and all others were bad. This was the first so she smiled as she twisted the top off. Loki glanced at her and frowned.

"I hate screw tops for wine. It just feels wrong." He said after she tilted her head at him.

"I don't mind." Darcy poured them both a healthy sized glass and walked around the table to put the remaining alcohol in the fridge.

"So, what do you want first?" Loki asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her hips close to his. She was suddenly filled with the memory of their naked bodies pressed together and she was sure she was blushing again.

"A kiss." Standing on her tip toes, she pressed her mouth to his; he caught her bottom lip between his and moaned when she pressed her chest firmly into his. He deepened the kiss and slide his hand lower, running over the curve of her bottom, then pushing her closer to him still. She finally pulled back, needing to breath. "Now, fish cakes." She patted his chest and moved past him, pulling a kitchen stool out from under the counter and motioning him to sit next to her.

They ate for what felt like hours, laughing at various stories they told each other, like how Thor once came home from school in tears because he touched a girl's ass by accident and thought he'd gotten her pregnant. Safe to say, the nine year old soon got put right.

"Who told him that?" She asked between gasps of laughter.

"How was I supposed to know he'd go crying home? I was younger than him and even I knew that's not how babies are made." Loki confessed; which only caused Darcy to laugh more, nearly choking on her wine.

"You are evil." She put the glass down at tried to regain some kind of lady like elegance despite nearly spitting wine on his lap. "Truly the God of Mischief." She joked.

"God of Mischief? Now that won't do. I'd rather be God of Cunningness or Masculinity."

"God of Sexiness?" Darcy volunteered.

Loki sighed, running a hand lazily through his messy hair. "I suppose I can't complain..." Darcy grabbed a Thai cracker, dipping it into some sweet chilli sauce before biting into it. "So... there's something that I've been wondering about." Darcy raised an eyebrow at him, encouraging him to continue. "About your mother..."

"Oh." Darcy said after she swallowed. "That."

"Yes."

There was a long pause and Loki moved closer to her.

"Why did you lie to me, Darcy?" She turned to the dirty plate in from of them, she was dreading this, the moment someone caught her in a lie. She knew it was only a matter of time before something she said from her life didn't match up to the Darcy in this one. She just hoped it wouldn't because of that jerk, Jake, in front of Loki. "Why did you tell me she was dead?" His voice was tender and Darcy felt tears gather in the corner of her eyes and that familiar lump in her throat that came with the overwhelming need to cry. Darcy grabbed her wine glass and took a long sip.

"It was easier." She said, it was kind of true. At least she was starting with the truth before she began lying to him, again. "It was easier to say she was dead than admit the problems she had that could easily affect me." She was kind of thankful for Jake's outbursts, at least now she knew the truth about her mom here so she didn't have to make something up. "It's embarrassing. If you had the choice to hide your past, wouldn't you?"

The sadness that washed over his handsome features instantly made her heart ache. She didn't know exactly what kind of past he had here, but it wasn't perfect, it was easy to see when he looked so full of shame and sorrow like then. But it must be better than the life he had back in her world. There he was alone, had a terrible relationship with his family, had pissed off some many people in such high places, Darcy still wasn't sure why he was allowed to live. Here though… Here he was well-adjusted, successful; he and his brother got along like… well, brothers. He could be happy here. With her.

In fact, everyone was happier here. Natasha was laughing freely and just enjoying life. Clint had a job he obviously loved and could charm the pants off of just about anyone. Thor had his brother, something he longed to get back at home. Bruce didn't have a constant battle with his own rage and problems, but helped others instead. Jane was still crazy with her science but Darcy wondered just how infinite of universes' there would have to be for a Jane out there to not be crazy over science. Tony was fighting for the family he never had which made Darcy happy he was finally settling down. Hell, even Steve was recognized as the hero he truly was and spent his life getting appreciated for all the time and effort he's given his country, whereas in her world, Steve was a faceless man that people looked at with pity for not understanding how a microwave worked. Even she was better off here, she had a better job, a better education, and she had a kind-of guy in her life and… she had a mother…

Darcy reached over and took Loki's hand in hers. She closed her eyes, feeling really hot all of a sudden. Maybe it was too much wine.

She opened her eyes to see not Loki or her counter-parts flat, but the battle field that was the balcony of Stark Tower where they were all being attacked from some unknown flying person and another on the roof firing what Darcy could only describe as 'bits of lightsabers' at them.

"We need to call the Fantastic Four!" She heard some yell, Nick Fury maybe…

"I can't hold them for much longer! Captain's hit. One of those lackeys pushed Thor off the edge of the balcony. Will someone find out what the hell that bitch did to everyone?" Now that was defiantly Ironman's slightly electronic voice. So Tony was awake in her world? "Where's Darcy? I haven't seen her or Black Widow-" He yelled but got cut off by an attack.

She wanted to open her mouth and speak, to shout that she was trapped in some other dimension or something but she just blinked and opened her eyes to find Loki staring at her with concern. She steadied herself on the chair, thankful she was holding onto Loki's hand or she would have fallen off.

"You ever feel like the world is spinning out of control and… and everything is wrong but you can't stop it? Like, maybe you don't want to stop it anymore?" Loki watched in fascination as she spoke, his bright green eyes darkening with intensity that made her feel light headed and breathless. "Even though you should…" She admitted quietly. "I just wish I knew what to do next…" She sighed and looked down at their entwined fingers. This was wrong. "Sorry, that was random. I don't know-"

She didn't get to finish, Loki's mouth on hers cut her sentence short. Gosh, if she thought his gaze was intense, this kiss was extreme! Wrong felt so right, and Darcy wasn't strong willed enough to turn his offer and affection down.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair as she pushed her mouth harder against his, trying to express just how passionate her feelings for him were, yet how lost and confused she felt. She wanted this, she really did, but it was wrong and she knew it wouldn't last. It couldn't last! In reality, they were getting their asses kicked by some mysterious baddies. Darcy really didn't care and she gasped at his hands sneaking under her jumper and rubbing her bare back. They stood up together, Loki wrapping her leg around his pelvis as he lifted her to the sofa.

"I have a bedroom." Darcy said, breathlessly when he released her mouth to pull the jumper over her head.

"Too far away." Loki said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Darcy just rolled her eyes and tried not to cry out too loud when his magic tongue did those magic things again.

Xxxxxx

* * *

There we have it! They are finally together!

Please review. I'd love to here what you all thought, especially after a big chapter like this.

I've drafted a mini 'sample' review that you can use if you can't think of anything to write that you can delete whatever and give some feedback:

_Hello LadyCharliEM,_

_This new chapter was (great/good/terrible)._

_Usually I find your story (amazing/interesting/tedious) but this chapter really make me feel (excited/angry/bored) because (insert reason here)._

_I felt (Darcy/Loki/Jake) was (in character/unrealistic/just wrong)._

_I (can't wait/dread) your next chapter._

_From (insert your name here)._

I'm not saying you have to use it... Any words would be appreciated.

Thanks again!

Charlie


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